'Ricky Stanicky' movie review: Mildly funny comedy

A still from Ricky Stanicky

Film: Ricky Stanicky
Director: Peter Farrelly
Cast: Zac Efron, John Cena, Jermaine Fowler, Andrew Santino, William H. Macy, Lex Scott Davis, Anja Savcic
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 113 min

The premise weighs in on three kids creating a fake friend to take the fall for their pranks-gone-wrong. Unfortunately for the audience the immature behavior and the responsibility for them continue to accrue to the fake friend, even in adulthood…until their respective wives decide they want to meet this ‘Ricky Stanicky.'

Twenty years after creating this ‘fake friend,' Dean (Zac Efron), JT (Andrew Santino), and Wes (Jermaine Fowler) still use the nonexistent Ricky as a handy alibi for their immature behavior. Now that their spouses and partners have gotten suspicious, they have to produce him out of thin air. The trio decide to hire washed-up actor and raunchy celebrity impersonator "Rock Hard" Rod (John Cena). But thick skinned Rod takes on the challenge with gusto and makes them wish they'd never invented Ricky.

It's implausible that spouces of today would put up with such lame behavior. But this is fiction so creative license is given a long leeway. In this film we have Zac Efron giving a relaxed, lazy performance after the trying demands of ‘The Iron Claw,' and John Cena effectively breaking away from tough ‘Buff' guy roles and doing well as a comedy show all his own. He owns the film with his alcoholic-on/off-the-wagon act. John Cena as the alcoholic, steroid addicted washed up actor prepared to dress in the most ludicrous of outfits proves that he is prepared to let go to gain ascendance as an actor. The rest of the cast is pretty much so-so.

Scripted by Jeffrey Bushell, Brian Jarvis and James Lee Freeman and directed by Peter Farrelly (of Oscar winner ‘Green Book' fame), this film may not be as witty or as satirical as they come but it sure has its defining comedic moments. The story device had potential but it has not been developed to allow for any great take away. Farrelly's brilliance shows up in flashes only here. The overall tone is positive, theme involving friendship has its nice moments, and there's also an obligatory denouement of ‘acceptance' - which has now become a cliche for modern day comedy films. This isn't your typical laugh-out-loud comedy, but it does manage to leave you with a smile.