(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

Why Him? may be the typical crunchy comedy, but I was laughing and the story had a little charm to it as well!!!

Rating: 3.5 Stars

James Franco, it seems you either love or hate him. I on the other hand am somewhere in between. I hate him sometimes because in most of his films he acts like a big douche. Just watch Pineapple Express, This is the End, The Interview, and especially Spring Breakers. I almost believe that is who he really is, and it is not pleasant whatsoever. What I like about him, when he actually tries to act, he’s actually pretty good. I enjoyed him in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 127 Hours (for which he got an Oscar nomination), and even in the Spider-Man movies as Harry Osbourne. Depending on the movie, you get the best or worse of James Franco.

What I Like: The movie actually made me laugh. The characters played good parts to make this comedy pretty funny. I really enjoyed seeing Bryan Cranston playing Ned Fleming, the father of his daughter, Stephanie played by Zooey Deutch, who is dating rich tycoon Laird Mayhew, played by James Franco. With Cranston, it was great seeing him back in a comedic role which reminded of his role in the TV show Malcolm in the Middle. I also thought Franco and Cranston had some funny awkward chemistry with each other. I really enjoyed Keegan-Michael Key’s role as a black German assistant for Laird, Gustav. He was hilarious with his accent and dialogue. His interaction with both Franco and Cranston is always a funny moment. In one scene when he was trying to fix the Japanese toilet with Cranston on it, the faces they made just made me crack up. The other funny thing I laughed at was the interaction with the Siri like machine named Justine, voiced by Kaley Cuoco. She is creepy knowing all the details she knows and gives them what they need. Especially, hearing the insults between her and Ned is really hilarious. The film for a comedy had a lot of charm through the relationship between father and daughter and boyfriend and girlfriend. It shows that being either overprotective or doing too much to win your love is wrong. Stephanie didn’t need either, and just wants a simple life where she can make her choices. The fact that Laird actually receives Ned’s blessing to marry her was actually a touching moment. To make it even funnier, she said no to the proposal saying she is not ready for marriage yet.

The So So: You get the James Franco who is a douche, but a douche with a heart. He may be raunchy, filthy mouthed, and crazy, but he is also honest and really wanted to just get people to like him. He did have a lot of charm under his douchey self, which made the comedy’s story that much better.

What I Didn’t Like: Let’s skip the part that the story is a little too cliché about a guy winning his girlfriend’s father approval. Sometimes the film can get too crude and raunchy. At times it was tasteful, but other times it goes too far and is unnecessary. Sometimes in comedy nowadays they rely on the raunchiness too much, and instead of being funny, it just gets too outrageous in a bad way.

Overall: There were moments where I laughed, and for a comedy, that is a great thing. However, it isn’t the best in comedies. With that said, it did do its job well enough to keep me amused. I believe it is worth watching if you want to be amused as I was, if not more!!!

Rating: 3.5 Stars