Peter Farrelly, who gained unprecedented levels of fame for working with comedy actors like Jim Carrey, has finally made his return to the funnyman genre with the John Cena-helmed Ricky Stanicky.
Farrelly, the director of such cult classics as Dumb & Dumber, Me, Myself & Irene, and Shallow Hal, has finally returned to the raunchy comedy subgenre with Prime Video’s Ricky Stanicky after a short break from the category of films while making eventual Oscar winner Green Book. The move was a controversial one, with many considering the film to be baity and one of the worst Best Picture winners of all time, so it is understandable as to why the director has gone back to basics with this Prime Video Original.
The film follows three friends; Dean (Zac Efron), JT (Andrew Santino), and Wes (Jermaine Fowler), who use the made-up Ricky Stanicky as a scapegoat for their hijinks. When Stanicky is supposedly in town and invited to a family event, the group is forced to hire washed-up D-grade actor ‘Rock Hard’ Rod (John Cena) to play Stanicky.
A simple premise, but one that could play into comedy with a good script. And luckily, for the most part, it does. John Cena plays off the film’s already funny script and uses his great delivery to elevate it into something hilarious. The film takes a turn for the worse when they try and bring Stanicky back on an emotional level and situate him in what is essentially the real world where instead of acting as the character, Rod instead becomes the character. There’s a way this could work, but in the film, it does not for one reason or another.
Perhaps the weakest part of the film is its supporting cast, several of the main characters’ mothers only serve to antagonise and are not funny or compelling enough to entertain the audience. On the flip side of that, Summerhayes (William H. Macy) provides both a stern backing to the film but is also funny due to tension releases and situational humour. Honestly, none of these characters are particularly compelling bar ‘Rock Hard’ Rod himself, but it is part of the reason why most of this humour works.
The film also opens with a pretty unique and well-animated animation sequence showcasing the adventures of Dean, JT, and Wes, who all use the Stanicky guise as a scapegoat for various comedic (in some cases morbid) reasons. It’s visually pleasing, fluid, and consistent which makes for good viewing but also sets the tone for how bizarre this film is.
As the film transitions into its third act it becomes sort of predictable but the humor returns to top-tier form and is funny if you’re a fan of this sort of film. It is easy to see how divisive something like this could be given the nature of its humour, with a lot of childish sex jokes, although not too vulgar where you would be put off by the nature of it.
Peter Farrelly ultimately crafts an enjoyable yet stupid film that is a sure must-watch for fans of the director’s prior works, please do watch the film for yourself though, and form your own opinion.
Ricky Stanicky is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. It is directed by Peter Farrelly and stars Zac Efron as Dean, Andrew Santino as JT, Jermaine Fowler as Wes, John Cena as ‘Rock Hard’ Rod, and William H. Macy as Summerhayes.
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