Comedy is a funny genre. One minute you’re watching the funniest film of the year, then the next you’re finding yourself watching absolute brainrot. It is incredibly interesting to see how subjective the genre is, and one thing is very clear about this film. Nothing could prepare you for the major bore-fest that is Ricky Stanicky. A film that wastes time and ends up feeling like a lifetime. I did not like this film, despite some glimmers of hope throughout which kept me watching, but it was not for me.
John Cena’s Rock Hard Rod
John Cena is slowly becoming a more prominent name away from his previous career in WWE, giving us some very entertaining performances. First in Playing With Fire, then The Suicide Squad which led into the wonderful Max series Peacemaker. This film, however, introduces us to Rock Hard Rod, an alcoholic actor who finds himself tasked with the role of a lifetime, a person who has never existed with only a character bible to inspire his work.
I must admit I was put off by the film’s vulgarity during its opening scene, as I was given the impression the film would end up consisting of 100 minutes of boner jokes, alas, I was partially correct but what followed wasn’t as odd or peculiar as I expected, with some of Rod’s scenes and additional jokes turning out somewhat funnier than the first scene’s “Dog With A Boner” Halloween costume.
Our first insight into the character of Rod is through his X-rated parodies during his shows and I’ll have to admit seeing him dressed as the “…Baby One More Time” Britney Spears was amusing. I wish a lot more of the “Ricky Stanicky” persona would have carried some of the childish immature slapstick which Rod himself possessed, and had the character sort of become a blend of his real “Rod” and some of Ricky Stanicky thrown in. Having the character experiment away from the made-up fantasy produced by Dean and his friends would have worked quite well.
Cena’s performance in this is certainly enjoyable, though far from the ex-wrestler’s best and his presence is really the only way I would try and convince someone to watch this film.
As expected, the fake Ricky Stanicky identity is revealed to certain stakeholders within the plot and the film transitions into a “be true to yourself” film and promotes this message of anti-lying. Luckily, before any more attempts to make the film boring, all is revealed that Ricky himself has revealed his identity to the fictional news channel MFMBC for their Hero of the Week segment, and all is well.
Skin To Skin
The funniest scene in this film focuses on Andrew Santino’s JT and his preparations for fatherhood. Early on in the film, he makes it clear that his wishes are for skin-to-skin contact upon the birth of his child, who he hopes will be given a family name, Whittaker. Something about how dumb and profoundly wrong-sounding the name is incredibly hilarious, and a rare occurrence for the film where the seemingly “comedy” ends up being funny.
When JT’s wife goes into labour, whilst the boys are gambling in a casino, it’s a race against time for the trio to make it back for the birth of Whittaker. The film’s funny moment is then provided on-screen as JT ends up breast-feeding his newborn, with his mother, mother-in-law, and wife looking on in horror.
The film gets bonus points for getting The Gregory Brothers to do a hilarious song for a hilarious term which the film introduced to me: “air-dicking” – I promise with the context of the film it is not a strange song! I found the pair on YouTube years ago, and have continued to follow them to this day, so having their work featured in the credits was great to see.
‘Ricky Stanicky’ – Final Thoughts
After overlooking a number of flat-landing jokes, and the slow runtime making it feel as if a lifetime is passing watching this film, some elements of Ricky Stanicky make it somewhat salvageable. Andrew Santino’s JT is possibly the only funny character from the main trio, and Zac Efron’s performance is moderately okay, sadly. Relying too much on Cena doesn’t work for this film, and whilst he provides an enjoyable watch when on-screen, it is the scenes without which prove to struggle the most. Definitely something I won’t be returning to watch…
Ricky Stanicky is now streaming on Prime Video. Check out the trailer below.
The Review
TL;DR
Whilst 'Ricky Stanicky' has some jokes which land, the film's 100 minute runtime sometimes feels as if it’s 200 instead. Scenes without Cena's rod feel lackluster and unimpressive and shows just how much the film relies on his comedic skills.
