3 star
Three boys put a huge bag of dog crap (collected from seven different dogs) on the doorstep of a family that didn’t give them any Halloween candy. They light it, ring the doorbell, and hide to watch what happens.
It doesn’t go well.
“Doodoo in mouth! Doodoo in mouth!”
Welcome back to the world of director Peter Farrelly, a man whose career has careened from Dumb and Dumber to the multiple-Oscar-winning Green Book. He’s had a few misfires along the way, like the dreadful Hall Pass, but he’s made some of the best American comedies of recent memory. And while most of his non-Academy Award-winning films are infamous for their less-than-tasteful scenes, like the hair gel in There’s Something About Mary, they also all show a lot of heart.
While it doesn’t reach the heights (or sink to the depths) of his best films, his latest effort, Ricky Stanicky, is classic Farrelly: puerile, profane, and ultimately inspiring. It also features a hilarious, balls-to-the-wall performance by professional wrestler-turned-actor John Cena. Like many sports entertainment athletes, Cena transitioned to movies as an action hero in formulaic films like The Marine (2006) and 12 Rounds. While keeping his day job in the WWE, Cena gradually started taking risks as an actor, making guest appearances on TV shows and films that let him do more than beat up the bad guys. Fans (and film producers) quickly realized the 6-foot-one 240-pound beefcake was funny. And weirdly funny, too. Cena doesn’t tell jokes or “act” funny in the traditional Hollywood movie leading man way. He’s something else. Something unique. And he pushes the envelope with Rickey Stanicky.
The film tells the story of Dean, JT, and Wes (Zac Efron, Andrew Santino, and Jermaine Fowler), three lifelong buddies who have an imaginary friend, Ricky Stanicky, whom they blame for everything wrong that they do. As children, Ricky took the fall for all their boyish shenanigans. As adults, they use their fake friends as an excuse to do things they want and are too afraid to tell their wives about, like going to ball games and concerts and, in a true sign of their immaturity, a model train museum.
When they finally get too tangled in their web of lies to escape, they hire a seedy Vegas X-rated lounge performer named Rod Rimestead (Cena). His act consists of singing popular songs with the lyrics changed to be all about masturbation. Billy Idol’s Nice Day for a White Wedding becomes Rod Rimestead’s Nice Day for Some Wood Whacking. That kind of thing. He proudly calls them ‘jizz jams.’ It’s stupid, but Cena sells it like he’s singing Shakespeare. As much a drunken clown as he is when they meet, the three friends have no idea that Rimiestead takes his career/acting very seriously. Given the role of a lifetime, or at least his lifetime, the X-rated Rock and Roll Impersonator goes more method than Brando and DeNiro combined and becomes Ricky Stanicky. The results are disastrous. And, quite often, hilarious.
For the most part, Ricky Stanicky follows its basic formula of putting Stinicky in increasingly outrageous situations and watching Rimestead work his way through them. The three friends don’t add much to the storyline beyond faking outrage and then relief at whatever Stanicky does, which gets pretty tiresome after a while. Efron steps up at the end to sell the movie’s message, but it’s a soft sell that doesn’t take much effort. There’s also a strange supporting role with the great William H. Macy playing the friends’ boss, a man with a very Farrelly-esque quirk involving the suggestive nature that he holds his hands when speaking in public. It’s not much of a joke, but Macy milks it to the point of chafing.
None of that matters, though, when Cena is on the screen. He brings a wild, chaotic energy to every scene that doesn’t just go over the top but annihilates expectations.
