Rating of
2.5/4
Naturally Loveable
Chris Kavan - wrote on 03/27/14
So what if Delivery Man isn't Vince Vaughn's most shining cinematic moment. The fact is, this a nice little pick-me-up that, while no necessarily deep, is just an all-around nice film that makes you feel good after watching it.
Vaughn plays his typically everyman - a bit of a schlub and, as the film starts, in debt to some very bad men. He works at his father's meat market - where it is obvious he is a constant let down - and when his girlfriend (Cobie Smulders) reveals she is pregnant, his lack of reaction seems to define their relationship. But soon he is lobbed a bombshell - it turns out that he has extra-strong sperm and, after making a number of donations - he is the biological father of 533 children - 142 of which have started a lawsuit in order to bring him out of anonymity. His lawyer friend (Chris Pratt - playing a world-weary father to great effect) acts as his lawyer and gives him an envelope with the children seeking his name. He is told to leave it alone, but of course, he does not.
What follows is a series of encounters - some light-hearted, some rather intense, with some of his kids. From helping out a barista looking to break in to show business to saving a drug-addicted daughter from herself - to just spending time with a handicapped son - he shows his true colors and can't help but be moved by these lives. But more than opening his eyes, it improves his relationship with his own family - but with a looming trial, not to mention an outstanding loan still to deal with - he must decide if money and anonymity is more important than "family".
Overall, this movie is sweet - it may delve a bit deep into the that pool, but for what it's worth, I didn't think it was too bad on that front. Does the movie skim over details (like where are the kids' parents in all this? They never show up once.), yes - and we only see a handful of kids (and not one is a serial killer, or even a disruptive - they all seem quite well-adjusted and "shudder" normal) but this is a feel-good movie - not a thriller - so you can't have a knife-wielding Norman Bates type messing up the gene pool. That's the only thing - with so many characters, you never get any real depth out of any of them, so the movie only goes skin deep. And analyzing it to death would only make things worse.
This is a good family film - even though it's PG-13, it doesn't exactly push the envelope. The film runs a bit vanilla, but if you're looking for a film to turn a bad day around - this will make you smile and put you in a good mood. It doesn't have to be the greatest film ever, but it made me feel good and that's important to me.
