‘Why Him?’
After making his mark playing men who are large and in charge (see also “Breaking Bad,” “All the Way”), Bryan Cranston is on the other side in the new comedy “Why Him?”
Cranston plays an overprotective father who, while visiting his daughter at Standford over the holidays, meets his gregarious, too-few-boundaries boyfriend, a tech billionaire played by James Franco. What starts as a rivalry gets more intense when Cranston learns Franco is getting ready to pop the question.
Megan Mullally and Zoey Deutsch co-star.
Directed by “Zoolander” and “Meet the Parents” writer John Hamburg, “Why Him?” isn’t getting good reviews. The Wrap’s Alonso Duralde called it “the kind of movie that makes trendy sophistication and homespun values look equally unattractive; the only remaining alternative is anarchy, an ingredient that’s sadly lacking in this bland, formulaic comedy.” couple, decides to go searching for his birth family.
The drama, based on a memoir, co-stars Nicole Kidman and David Wenham as Patel’s adoptive parents and Rooney Mara as his girlfriend in Australia. With awards season picking up, Patel and “Lion” have been getting a lot of attention.
“Unsurprisingly, the finale is manipulative in every way, squeezing out the emotions of the audience,” USA TODAY critic Brian Truitt wrote in his 31⁄2-star review. “But ‘Lion’s’ well-plotted narrative and thoughtful characters suck you in so much that the journey there is totally worth it.”