Why Him?

I admit that I was very hesitant between three and four stars. Three stars because, in my opinion, it at times dabbles unnecessarily in current American pop culture, which no American comedy can help; and four stars because I laughed a lot at it. In the end, however, sincerity and the desire to have fun with a comedy won, which again hasn’t happened to me for a long time. And James Franco dominated the movie perfectly. In the end, I couldn’t help but get the impression that the movie was far too similar to Meet the Parents until I read the end credits and found out that Ben Stiller was one of the producers. The relationship between a dad and his daughters’ boyfriend is absolutely clear. Either way, I can give nothing else for such a hoot. So far, the best comedy of the last two years that came from America. And probably one of the best characters of James Franco in the last few years. And he has had a fair share of those. (12.07.2017)

It’s always lots of fun when two guys are fighting over one woman. And when they're each from a different generation, it's even more fun. It's just that what's going on here is unparalleled. I can remember exactly the last time I rolled around laughing like that. That time it was at The Hangover. And that was quite a few years ago. Franco, as Ned's crazy boyfriend, is both a jerk and an amazing guy. The dad is a little bit of a curmudgeon, but it's so much fun to watch Ned drive him crazy. Definitely the comedy of the past year for me. 5 stars. (20.01.2017)

A superb Franco, a solid Cranston and his gorgeous daughter are the main draws in a subtly dopey comedy that is not far from a fart joke. It goes by very well and Elon’s cameo is good. (02.07.2017)

I wasn't expecting Cranston to get into creepy prissy shit likethis, but he literally dove head first into it. He's still likeable despite his silly role, as is his counterpart Franco, who's even funny at times, but everything around them is steeped in the ugly genre stereotype of recent years, where every twist and turn is read beforehand and every great joke is disgraced by ten cheap dirty innuendos. Two stars, except for the actors, solely for the reference to Pink Panther, which amused really sincerely. (02.05.2017)

Ich habe etwas mehr erwartet, aber auch so habe ich mich recht gut amüsiert. Diese Komödie verlangt zwei solide Schauspieler, was Cranston und Franco spielend erfüllen, zu Franco passen außerdem die ständigen Veränderungen, einmal ist er Tristan, beim zweiten Mal ein verrückter Fixer und dieses Mal ein sympathischer und unerträglicher Millionär. Einige Szenen waren sehr gelungen, auf ihre Kosten kommen vor allem Liebhaber von etwas gröberem Humor bzw. diejenigen, die ein großes Bild kopulierender Capybaras über dem Bett zum Lachen bringt. (07.02.2017)

There must have been blood and sweat flowing in the writer's room again. Concept: James Franco acts like a psychopathic asshole while Bryan Cranston acts as if James Franco is acting like a psychopathic asshole. Neither of them are believable because they both overact like kids at their first casting call. Format: Franco bites off some stupid bullshit, makes a face you want to punch, followed by one to five silent cuts to the confused family of his betrothed. Throw in, of course, a ton of obligatory pop culture innuendo for even the slowest moron, all wrapped up in the immortal conflict between the old order and the expressive extremity of the new world. And, of course, the obligatory dramatic arc towards the end, whose timing you could practically count off right from the opening credits. Even so, my base, plebeian soul might throw a bone here and there for a touch of hilarity, except that they have no idea how to end most of the jokes even though they don't go anywhere, so they just repeat the basic premise over and over again, probably so that even the most retarded kid at the test screening can spare a laugh when Cranston uses the word bukkake in the wrong context. Nope. (20.04.2017)

I didn't expect much of this comedy, but I was surprisingly decently entertained. Daddy Ned's clash with the computer age had me laughing, Gustav managed to solve even a tricky problem, and Kaley Cuoco was excellent as Justine. If the filmmakers hadn't filled the last quarter of the film with disgusting pathos, exactly as expected, I would have added a fourth star for a film that made me laugh with my brain mostly switched off. It could have been a nice chill-out movie, but... (14.06.2017)

I thought it could be a pretty good movie just because of its cast. But it turned out to be a very good comedy that suited me, and the only thing that bothered me was the finale, where it had to have that romantically moralizing ending. In the Laird's house passage, I had a great time throughout. (04.04.2017)

It lacked something for a higher rating, and it's not a film I would need to return to, but otherwise this comedy fulfilled its purpose – I had a good time and even shed a tear while laughing. Yeah James Franco, so yeah bawdy and vulgar humour, but once in a while why not. The performances of Franco and Cranston, in particular, some of their facial expressions were hilarious. (10.01.2017)