Film Review: 'Delivery Man' is just another run of the mill affair in the comedy genre

Cast:  Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders, Simon Delaney

Director: Ken Scott

Rating: **1/2

What’s it about:

Vince Vaughn plays David, an incompetent truck driver who realises late in life that his sperm donation spree had him father 533 kids, out of which  142 of them decide to file a lawsuit making his existing mid-life crises unfathomable. Chris Pratt plays his lawyer friend who intervenes trying to help Vaughn grab the problem by the root and personally clear it out with each of these kids. So along the way we encounter a diverse array of problems from sexuality, drug abuse to racial profiling. Every encounter with a kid gives the film a new subject and emotion to explore.

What’s hot:

Tailor made for Vaughn, the role has the actor go all out in making sure David comes across as relatable as possible. He manages to get us interested in his problems and make them our own. Some of the dialogues and jokes are hilarious at the same time sensitive to the short comings of a particular individual. Ken Scott manages to create the right balance in most of the scenes.

What’s not:

Delivery Man’s biggest grouse is its desperation to please all. The saccharine sweet flavour of the script gets a bit too much particularly in the second half. Also the logic of fathering 533 kids half of which come back to haunt him seems improbable. There are several such WTF moments in the film that prevent it from being believable.  

What to do:

Delivery Man fails to deliver any major laughs, making it yet another run of the mill affair in the comedy genre.