Vince reproduces wit
105 minutes (M) Ken Scott (Starbuck) Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders, Andrzej Blumenfeld
Leigh Paatsch THIS is what you might call a high concept( ion) movie. Starring the much-maligned Vince Vaughn, of all people.
The lanky funnyman has crashed too many times in recent years with lazy performances in lacklustre laugh vehicles. Therefore some will find it hard to care that Vaughn finally finds himself in a good middle-of-the-road comedy that goes the distance.
Fair enough. The guy could have done better in the past. But it must go on record he is giving it his best shot in Delivery Man, and the uptick in quality is appreciable.
Vaughn plays David, a character who falls well within his limited range, an ordinary enough likable loser who won’t be winning anytime soon.
Particularly when he discovers his secret past as a prolific semi- pro sperm donor is about to catch up with him.
Back in the 1990s, there was a clerical error concerning withdrawals at the bank where David was the most frequent depositor.
Somehow, a majority of the liquid assets passed on to willing buyers were once the property of David.
Almost 20 years later, David is informed he is the biological father of over 500 children. A few hundred of them have gone to court re- questing his true identity be revealed.
So here is David’s dilemma. Does he sacrifice his anonymity so that all those impressionable youths can claim a vital missing piece from the jigsaw of their lives?
Or does he countersue the sperm bank for blowing his cover?
David is broke, by the way.
According to his lawyer buddy Brett ( Chris Pratt), this is a case he could win to the tune of six figures or more.
And just to add to the pressures squeezing David from all directions, his longtime girlfriend Emma ( Cobie Smulders) is pregnant with their first child.
This enjoyable light com- edy is a remake of Starbuck, a French-Canadian hit from a few years ago.
Writer-director Ken Scott also oversaw that project and it is his tight control over this material that doesn’t allow Vaughn to play as loose as he usually might.
Better still, Scott’s cleverish premise is not placed under pressure to generate too many dumb chuckles for the sake of it. If there are any easy comedic points to be scored, Vaughn quite generously cedes them to Pratt, who nails several killer lines with ease.
The more directly sentimental scenes often bring the best out of Vaughn and the movie as a whole. File under ‘‘most happy accident’’.