Maybe I never liked PTA because I have never found Steve Martin to be much of a comedian although John Candy tried his best. Such a story needs a good straight man as a foil as much as the one who plays the jackass. Martin's much acclaimed remake of The Out of Towners left me cold, a poor comparison with of Jack Lemmon in the original. Neither do I recall laughing as much, if at all, while watching PTA., my sides were aching by the end. Due Date may be a copycat of a worn out theme. For example, not only PTA, Robert di Niro's excellent Midnight Run comes to mind as well. Maybe I liked DD because its humour was much more European than North American and I am European after all. It all depends on what buttons the script and the comedian push on any given individual's funny bone.
Anyway, there is a definite non-puzzling story line in DD; an annoying person constantly bothers the straight man who the more straight he acts the more funny he becomes so long as that difficult role is played well. Indeed, like in PTA the straight man becomes increasingly annoying to the audience and its sympathy with the grown up infant terrible increases in proportion The truth of the matter is that the straight man would have had a hard time getting home in time for the due birth date of his first child but for the slob's offer of a lift. This morally cancels out the fact that Mr. Straight would have been nearly home by the time he is offered a lift by his Nemesis had he not met Mr.Slob in the first place. An example of how embarrassing the situation becomes for Mr. Straight is when Mr. Slob proclaims he cannot get a good night's sleep unless he first plays with himself; a bad example copied by his ugly but endearing little pug faced dog. The black comic symbol of the gaudy coffee tin full of Mr Slob's late father's cremated remains brings to mind Death as a comedy in successful movies such as Meet Joe Black, Roseanna's Grave. Last Orders and Death at a Funeral. One has to have good script writers, producers and a pair of excellent comedians to make something really funny out of Death and in this case the attempt succeeds. The is a comic film you will either enjoy immensely or hate intensely. Give it a try.
Anyway, there is a definite non-puzzling story line in DD; an annoying person constantly bothers the straight man who the more straight he acts the more funny he becomes so long as that difficult role is played well. Indeed, like in PTA the straight man becomes increasingly annoying to the audience and its sympathy with the grown up infant terrible increases in proportion The truth of the matter is that the straight man would have had a hard time getting home in time for the due birth date of his first child but for the slob's offer of a lift. This morally cancels out the fact that Mr. Straight would have been nearly home by the time he is offered a lift by his Nemesis had he not met Mr.Slob in the first place. An example of how embarrassing the situation becomes for Mr. Straight is when Mr. Slob proclaims he cannot get a good night's sleep unless he first plays with himself; a bad example copied by his ugly but endearing little pug faced dog. The black comic symbol of the gaudy coffee tin full of Mr Slob's late father's cremated remains brings to mind Death as a comedy in successful movies such as Meet Joe Black, Roseanna's Grave. Last Orders and Death at a Funeral. One has to have good script writers, producers and a pair of excellent comedians to make something really funny out of Death and in this case the attempt succeeds. The is a comic film you will either enjoy immensely or hate intensely. Give it a try.