Your tolerance for Peter Farrelly's new comedy Ricky Stanicki may depend on whether you find the idea of accidentally imitating a sexual act funny. The concept has little impact on the plot. This is something several leads have noticed that the leader of a financial company (William H. Macy) does when he gives a speech. They decide that's why he can't close the deal, and with the over-repeated name, it could become another drinking game. The movie thinks this is just comedy gold. You might be too.
“Ricky Stanicki” (which means rhymes with) is a name chosen in haste by three pre-teen boys who accidentally set their house on fire. They didn't intend to commit arson, they just wanted to burn dog poop on the front porch of a house that didn't hand out Halloween candy. When the fire got out of control, they left behind a jacket with a fake name engraved on it: Ricky Stanicki. He becomes their imaginary fourth friend, the guy they forever fall for even in adulthood (they are played by Zac Efron, Andrew Santino, and Jermaine Fowler). But their alibi house is in danger of collapsing as a suspicious partner and nagging stepmother demand that the elusive Ricky become a reality. So they hire an impressionist celebrity who has washed up in Atlantic City, aka “Rock Hard” Rod (John Cena), to play Ricky for a day.
The idea didn't originate with Farrelly, who of course, along with his brother, defined an era of far-reaching comedy in the 1990s with films like Dumb and Dumber, The Kingpin, and All About Mary. His sensibilities were always a bit childish, but he was so joyful and unashamedly committed that you just couldn't help but laugh at his antics. Some of their comedies have aged too well, but this is not a fate peculiar to them, but again they were of a moment long gone (they appeared in the early 10s (He was like a younger, kinder brother to the Hula Hula Guy spirit).
And unfortunately, “Ricky Stanicki” feels like one of those minor comedies from 2000 that desperately wanted to be “Something About Mary.” That makes some sense considering this script has been bouncing around Hollywood for about 15 years. At one point, James Franco was attached to the title role. A few years later, it was Jim Carrey. This development process is one of the reasons why he has six screenwriters credited on the final produced version (Jeff Bushell, Brian Jarvis, James Leigh Freeman, Peter Farrelly, Pete Jones, Mike Cerran). It's impossible to know where (I guess) the good ends and the bad begins to creep in, but he said three ampersands in a movie's credits is rarely a good sign.
There are traces of Farrelly's frolics here, including a bit of fun with dogs and ducks, a bit of accidental drug taking, comedic circumcision, and an album's worth of pop songs recast as about masturbation. It has little appeal. Perhaps this is a comedy that should have been made at the time it was written? Was it destined to be revived for audiences in 2024?
Part of the problem is that it's shot with the artistry of a yogurt commercial. Everything looks like a set. They all look like actors. Women are all superficial. Nothing could be further from reality, even the blindingly bright lights.
The only bright spot is Cena, who is very good. Much like his deft portrayal of Ricky Stanicki, Cena really takes himself seriously, bringing a certain unexpected depth and pathos to Rock Hard Rod. He's shown his comedic talents in the past, and I'm sure he'll do it again soon. Is it enough to save the movie? Not for me.
The MGM/Amazon Studios production “Ricky Stanicki,” which will be available to stream on Prime Video Thursday, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of Japan for “general language, some drug content, and sexual content.” ing. Running time: 112 minutes. He has 1 and a half stars out of 4.