Robert De Niro has played good guys, he’s played bad guys - and now he’s playing an old perverted guy. Lord help us all.
In ‘Dirty Grandpa’ De Niro plays Dick, a septuagenarian who’s recently lost his wife, like really recently... her funeral was yesterday. Dick manipulates his straight-laced, corporate lawyer, soon-to-be-married grandson Jason (Zac Efron) to drive him to his house in Florida. What seems like a simple task turns into a sex and drug-crazed nightmare when Dick detours the pair to Daytona Beach during spring break to hook up with the sexually aggressive Lenore (Aubrey Plaza) and her friends Shadia (Zoey Deutch) and Tyrone (Brandon Mychal Smith).
SWITCH: 'DIRTY GRANDPA' TRAILER
The first 30 laughless minutes of ‘Dirty Grandpa’ are an assault to the senses and every half-way decent fibre of your being as you’re smacked in the face by a tirade of homophobic slurs, disgusting innuendo, a disturbing amount of penis and vagina “jokes”, and enough f-bombs to rival a Tarantino film.
I’ll admit, seeing Zac Efron wearing nothing but a plush bumblebee is highly enjoyable - I am a woman, after all. De Niro as this uncharacteristic character is also a nice departure from the usual gangster or intimidating father-in-law. Yet as a big fan of Zoey Deutch, it pains me to see her in yet another role that fails showcase her enormous potential and properly introduce her talent to the awaiting audience.
‘Dirty Grandpa’ is a messy sea of failed joke after failed joke. Was I expecting too much from the writer/producer of ‘Borat’? Or was this right on par? Without Sacha Baron Cohen throwing his weight behind the comedy, its true colourlessness is on display.