Ricky Stanicky Movie Review: John Cena is Admittedly Funny in This Comedy That Struggles to Catch Up With Him (LatestLY Exclusive)

Ricky Stanicky Movie Review: If you want your fix of movies where 30s-something dudes lie to their wives to have some fun time and then face repercussions of their lies - Peter Farelly's new movie Ricky Stanicky could be for you. If you expect Ricky Stanicky to be as irreverently (and pervasively) funny as Dumb and Dumber or There's Something About Mary, you are in for a major disappointment. Ricky Stanicky Trailer: John Cena’s Imaginary Shenanigans Unleash Chaos in This Prime Video Comedy Film Releasing on March 7.

When they were kids, Dean, Wes, and JT make up a fictional person to blame when a prank went wrong. They liked the idea so much that they turned this figment of imagination, whom they name 'Ricky Stanicky', into a scapegoat friend to be made responsible for all the mischief they do while growing up.

'Ricky Stanicky' doesn't cease to exist when the friends become adults and have their families, as they still use him as an excuse to take a break from their domestic lives. They even give Stanicky prostate cancer, so that they can run away to Atlantic City to gamble and have fun, while shirking away from events back home. However, their lies seem to catch up to them as their families insist on meeting Ricky Stanicky in person during JT's newborn's circumsicion ceremony. Dean (Zac Efron) hires a down-on-luck performer, Rod (John Cena), who sings X-rated parodies of popular songs on stage and whom they meet while they are in AC.

Watch the Trailer of Ricky Stanicky:

Rod agrees to be Ricky Stanicky and he becomes so entrenched in playing the role, that he not just impresses the families of his 'childhood buddies', but also their boss, Ted Summerhayes (William H Macy). The friends, however, realise they are in for more trouble when they find out Rod refuses to let go of his Ricky Stanicky persona after being hired by Summerhayes in their company in a senior position.

Comedy is No Funny Business

The Farrelly Brothers were known for their outrageous comedies, such as Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary, Me, Myself & Irene, and Shallow Hal, which were major hits in the 2000s. However, with increasing criticism for their ah... below-the-belt humour and the rising wokeness among the viewers, their subsequent movies didn't have the same significant impact on the audience.

The failure of their last directorial collaboration - Dumb and Dumber To - is a glaring example of them struggling to fit their kind of comedies (that, to be honest, also suffers from good jokes) with today's viewer base. Peter went on to get Oscar glory with Green Book, but his comedies continued to struggle.

John Cena's Comic Streak Continues to Shine

Ricky Stanicky has the same issue. The movie shows some spark when it touches a chord with its R-rated humour, even if the spark is somewhat weak. When John Cena belts out parodies of songs that are all about the pleasure of masturbation in various costumes, it is hard not to smile a bit, well, at least in seeing the WWE star having no qualms in enjoying on the screen tomfoolery. The whole baby-circumcision get-together scene where the friends introduce Rod as Ricky Stanicky is the highlight of Cena's performance in the film, and also the scene that gives the film an illusion that it will improve hereon, where the cast seems to be working well with each other, even if Cena was stealing the show. Though, in my opinion, the funniest scene was a random gag about a duck trying to drown a dog.

Peter Farrelly also have dialled down some of those 'insensitive' humour his films were known for. A gay couple is presented without the need to make homophobic jokes, and even physically disabled characters are not used as the butt of any gags. There's definitely some welcome dialling down here, but that's not compensated by dialling up the humour elsewhere. Ricky Stanicky has a plot that has been done to death in the past - a quirky character creates havoc in the straight main character's life before they both teach each other to be better humans and friends. What could have worked for such a trite premise is a funnier screenplay.

Weak Screenplay

Unfortunately for the film, whenever John Cena isn't on the screen, Ricky Stanicky isn't that quirky, sampled in the first act setup of the movie. Even though Zac Efron, Jermaine Fowler and Andrew Santino do their parts well, their camaraderie doesn't hit the right notes to sell how they were in sync to pull their lifelong con. While Cena's introduction does raise the stakes of the movie, the plot gets too nonsensical for its own good. Summerhayes hiring Ricky without any proper verification and later approving his weak-ass ideas felt like the writing struggling to create a humourous tension in the plot, without bringing any actual humour or tension. And to think, there were six writers involved in this film!

It also doesn't help that the comic scenes aren't edited well enough to maintain the impact; quick cuts between actions/reactions and the next scene dilute the essence. John Cena Joins OnlyFans and Shares Link on X; His Caption 'Like You’ve Never Seen Me Before' Will Leave You Intrigued!

The 'sentimental' third act with even more convoluted plot twist chugs away any remaining sheen from the film. The female characters are mostly sidelined or setups for gags, like the director's daughter Apple Farrelly cast here as an admirer of Ricky whose longish hair is supposed to be fodder for gags that don't exist, unless you find it amusing to see a woman being whacked on the head by bowling balls. There was also this subplot of her dating this annoying actor, but that's forgotten soon enough.

Final Thoughts on Ricky Stanicky

Ricky Stanicky tries hard to live up to the gallery-pleasing legacy of Peter Farrelly's earlier comedies. Still, despite John Cena's scene-stealing show, the brazenness is pretty much diluted here. I don't think it is because the movie tries to play safe by not wanting to offend anyone. For one, don't make a comedy if that's the fear stopping you from going all out. Two, the critical reception to shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and It's Always Funny in Philadephia prove that uncomfortable comedies can still work if backed by strong writing. Ricky Stanicky just doesn't pull out all the stops in being a wholesomely entertaining and wacky comedy.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 06, 2024 04:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).