A family tearjerker

To produce a good comedy that makes you weep is something that directors and screenwriters have struggled to do for some time now.
 
They must include some sort of far-fetched gimmick to make it work. The World’s End had aliens taking over a town, We’re the Millers had a fake family selling narcotics … and now Delivery Man has Vince Vaughn fathering 533 children.

Delivery Man’s plot is so ludicrous that the audience will definitely be asking many questions throughout the movie – or if they’re anything like myself, shouting ‘how is this possible?’ back at the screen.
 
But, then again, I was hoping that the movie wasn’t actually taking itself too seriously. After all, you have to give credit to its pure audacity. It didn’t provide an explanation to any of the questions the audience were asking, but rather went along with its illogicality.

However, for anyone who doesn’t like Vince Vaughn movies, this is not a film for you. Personally, I love Vaughn’s fast-witted and expressive dialogue, even though he does play the same role in a countless number of movies (The Internship, Dodgeball, Old School, Fred Claus).

Delivery Man is no different. He’s the same lowlife who constantly messes up, but after taking part in random acts of kindness – he saves the day! I’m not complaining though … if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

The film centres around David Wozniak (Vaughn), a lousy delivery truck driver working in the family butchery business. David is the irresponsible one in the family, so his father only trusts him to do one thing, transport the meat.

After taking part in a pyramid scheme, David is left $80,000 in debt and the mob on his tail to get their money back.

David’s a bit of an idiot and thinks that by turning his apartment into a ‘herbal’ field to sell a certain plant he would be able to fix his debt problems. Difficulty is, he’s dating a policewoman, Emma (Cobie Smulders).

Not only is he in debt and his plans at making money is failing, but it turns out Emma is pregnant. David’s problems don’t end there either.

A lawyer visits David one night to inform him that 20 years back, when David regularly donated to a fertility clinic in exchange for cash, under the name ‘Starbuck’, the clinic distributed his sperm to hundreds of women and as a result there are 533 children that share his DNA, of which 142 have joined a class action lawsuit to unveil Starbuck’s true identity.

Against the wishes of his best friend and lawyer (Chris Pratt), David goes incognito to investigate his biological children’s lives. It turns out they’re pro basketball players, actors, musicians and even addicts.

He forms a bond with several of them, revealing their talents and helps them with the problems in their lives, however, as the lawsuit trends the media channels, David must either reveal himself or focus on his new family with Emma and the baby.

There are a few memorable jokes in this film, but it’s the heart in the movie that will shock many Vaughn fans. He delivers sincere moments. It focuses on fatherhood and family as well as the dirty jokes that most people in the theatre are there for.

Vaughn isn’t doing anything new in Delivery Man but it’s the supporting characters that help bring the tears and sincerity to the film.

Adam (David Patten) who has organised the lawsuit, provided the most heartfelt moments with his gripping performance of a curious kid who just wants answers. Viggo (Adam Chanler-Berat) provides many of the humorous moments as the annoying biological son who keeps David’s secret and by adding enthusiastic roles like that of Kristen (Britt Robertson) and Josh (Jack Reynor) allow Vaughn to become likeable as well as relatable.

Pratt was a great addition to the movie. His one-liners and perfect comedic timing make a somewhat boring scene all the more interesting to watch. He provides some of the biggest laughs in the film.

Overall, the movie does have its fair share of awful, eye-rolling moments, where I wish the seriousness would break into comedy … but the idea of family was reinforced enough times that I envied the final group hug in the film. A great way to waste 105 minutes!
 
* Showing in Cineco