Delivery Man (2013)
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Critics Consensus: It has an undeniably sweet charm, and Vince Vaughn is eminently likable in the lead role, but The Delivery Man suffers in comparison to Starbuck, the hit Canadian comedy that inspired it.
Critics Consensus: It has an undeniably sweet charm, and Vince Vaughn is eminently likable in the lead role, but The Delivery Man suffers in comparison to Starbuck, the hit Canadian comedy that inspired it.
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Movie Info
From DreamWorks Pictures comes "Delivery Man", the story of affable underachiever David Wozniak, whose mundane life is turned upside down when he finds out that he fathered 533 children through sperm donations he made twenty years earlier. In debt to the mob, rejected by his pregnant girlfriend, things couldn't look worse for David when he is hit with a lawsuit from 142 of the 533 twenty-somethings who want to know the identity of the donor. As David struggles to decide whether or not he should … More- Rating:
- PG-13 (for thematic elements, sexual content, some drug material, brief violence and language)
- Genre:
- Comedy
- Directed By:
- Ken Scott (V) , Ken Scott
- Written By:
- Ken Scott (V)
- In Theaters:
- Nov 22, 2013 Wide
- On DVD:
- Mar 25, 2014
- US Box Office:
- $30.7M
Cast
-
Vince Vaughn
as David Wozniak -
Cobie Smulders
as Emma -
Chris Pratt
as Brett -
Jack Reynor
as Josh -
Brittany Robertson
as Kristen -
Dave Patten
as Adam
Related News & Features
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Parental Guidance: Noah and on DVD Delivery Man
– Rotten Tomatoes
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Critic Reviews for Delivery Man
All Critics (135) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (52) | Rotten (83)
A golden comic premise, directed to dross by Ken Scott, who also made the Canadian original ("Starbuck," from 2011) on which this Vince Vaughn vehicle is based.
Softer and schmaltzier than the original. Vince Vaughn has played this guy before, to better effect.
Calling Delivery Man a "comedy" is a bit of a stretch, because it's rarely funny. Dumb, yes, but not in a way that's worthy of more than a half-hearted chuckle.
Delivery Man can be pegged as yet another in a seemingly endless series of Apatow-era man-child redemption stories ...
"Starbuck" was a funny and warm-hearted trifle. So is "Delivery Man."
Vaughn never quite convinces as the perpetual slacker in this blue-collar family (he doesn't even look like he's from the same gene pool) and too many of the characters feel puppeteered into place; you can see all the strings.
Delivery Man has a beginning, a middle and an end. And, for modern Hollywood, a pertinent everyman story to tell, too.
The sheer cognitive dissonance between being told that this character is nice and the baffling deception he pulls on hundreds of people is agonizing, and it makes the story horribly anti-dramatic.
'Delivery Man' is a little like the main character: just good enough to make you care a little and smile a lot.
Delivery Man starts off strong, but gradually fades into mediocrity courtesy of, well, just too much going on.
While those simple oversights may prevent the movie from achieving perfection, they rarely undermine its earnest endeavor to explore shifting family dynamics and their impact on our ability to connect with others.
It gets mawkish, quite severely so in places, but it's undemanding and feel good and sometimes funny.
Vaughn gives his shiftless character a surprising degree of goofy charm, but he can't halt the film's inexorable slide into sentimentality and the limp script's lack of real wit leaves the endeavour looking misconceived.
"Everybody loves you", the fictional father of Vince Vaughn tells Vince Vaughn in Delivery Man, but he's obviously not read the box office reports on the star's last few movies.
Vaughn dials down his fast-talking schtick, but the story is often unconvincing (533 kids?) and there are very few laughs.
The tone wavers between the pantomime and the mawkish and while little has been lost in translation, less still has been gained.
It's warm-hearted, certainly, but ultimately undone by a would-be feelgood central conceit that makes less and less sense the more you think about it.
Alas, the hero is played by Vince Vaughn, a limited actor whose range extends from petulant to homicidal.
Vaughn delivers an unusually heartfelt performance, verging on self-deprecation (as opposed to the usual smugness) and it gives us hope that he's finally growing up.
In remaking his 2011 French Canadian surprise hit Starbuck, filmmaker Ken Scott doesn't really try to do anything new.
What is supposed to be funny and heartwarming is instead creepy and stalkerish. There's no charm or emotional plausibility in a tale that cannot work without it.
Of course, it's schmaltzy and very contrived. But if you're in the right mood, you might also find it rather touching.
Vince Vaughn, alas, simply doesn't have the lightness of touch to give this film the charm it badly needs.
It's not exactly a relatable scenario, the plot is too thin and episodic and there are few laughs.
Vince Vaughn autopilots his way through this lame, contrived and strangely depressing high-concept comedy.
Objections are washed away by the ingratiating performance of Vince Vaughn.
Audience Reviews for Delivery Man
"Delivery Man" tells the story of a man who used to be a sperm donor, ply to find in the future that he has birthed over 533 children over the years. Of those 533, 142 of them wish to know the identity of their biological father. With many heartfelt moments and some solid comedy, this is a film that I will have no problem rewatching in the future, but with someone else. It is a very well-made film for what it is, but it does lack a little in it's script, which felt all little off. Vince Vaughn actually seems to be into this role more than his others, as he does not have as many witty remarks. I definitely recommend the film to suckers of the dramedy genre. I really enjoyed it!
MoreSuper Reviewer
Vince Vaughn for a while was my favorite comedy actor. "Old School", "Swingers", and "Wedding Crashers" are all three amazing comedies. But Vaughn has transitioned away from those cutting edge R rated comedies to more family orientated PG-13 movies. Which is fine, if the movies are funny. His act doesn't really translate to tamer comedy as good as say Eddie Murphy. "Internship" was ok, and now here's "Delivery Man" which on paper sounds ok. A guy(Vaughn) finds out there was a mixup with a sperm bank he used to donate to and he fathered 533 children, whom all want to know who their father is. The problem is this is very lighthearted and Vaughn doesn't play to his strengths. The funniest moments in the movie are involving his friend/lawyer played by Chris Pratt. Pratt is awesome and on a real roll lately with movies. Vaughn on the other hand seems to be on the down slope. Hopefully his next movie is R rated and he can go back to doing what he does back. Lot's of fast talking, cussing, and being an egomaniac with charm. Otherwise he'll end up like Eddie Murphy in another version of "Pluto Nash". This movie isn't horrible, it has it's moments. But thinking of how good it COULD have been is a little depressing. Give it a shot, but keep expectations low and afterwards watch some "Old School" for some real Vaughn comedy.
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Delivery Man Quotes
- Brett:
- You have to make the most of the present.
- David Wozniak:
- It is impossible to be the father of 533 children!
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