Synopsis: Three childhood friends get themselves into trouble when a prank they perform goes awry. To escape from the situation, they create an imaginary character named Ricky Stanicky. Fast forward two decades, and these three friends still use the fictitious Ricky as an excuse for their lack of maturity.
It is at the top of the pyramid of my concerns when the streamer feels like the priority is throwing lots of IDEAS at a wall to see what sticks, is how well so many of the said films would perform on the big screen. Admittedly, a number of recent titles ended up on streaming services in part due to the COVID 19 pandemic (real tragic how I missed the chance to witness Palm Springs on the big screen). But even in the years following the reopening of cinemas, it was barely the case that few movies of so called cinematic quality would get the level of attention they deserve due to the release of OTT platforms.
Let us consider a picture like 2022’s Prey, a fresh addition to the Predator franchise; it did well quietly, but what upsets me is how it looked on the smaller screen rather than the bigger one. Bradley Cooper’s Maestro was produced fully by Netflix, and is an interesting case for this scenario. Yes, it has earned its admirers, not least seven nominations for the Academy Awards, but I need to stress as one who watched the performance on stage and a television, it is easy to say that the film works much better on the big screen.
My concerns regarding Richard Linklater’s Hit Man go beyond what I fear. It is a sexy, funny rom-com which received several accolades on numerous festival circuits last year, further appealing to audiences. However, unlike most films, it is headed straight for Netflix with no plan for a theatrical release, and that saddens me greatly. That film is simply so alive; it is designed to be consumed through a community experience.
There is a little more to it than that. Writing more mildly I would say that a lot of what Ricky Stanicky pretends to be not just be about, but be in substance what is incomprehensible, to put it politely, is ‘theatrical comedy,’ assuming we time travel back to 2007. There are probably Paul Rudd, Jason Segal, and Danny McBride on screen playing three successful Jumoke’s in their young ages that created an imaginary character and somehow continued to allow that to be. They have professions, kids, spouses, and whatever covers adulthood whilst at the same time willing to cut loose all of that with the only condition that they will not be blamed for it. Of course, that is because the fall guy is always Ricky Stanicky. I can imagine Judd Apatow or Adam McKay finding this kind of stuff funny, the actors in the segment were stern and handed them lemon jokes, which sounds nasty, but the audience seems keen to eat all that up.
These are some of the things which may detail the twist in the development process since that is how the project aims to be if the proposal was made back in 2010 where it was listed in the Black List.
From that moment on, a number of actors came into consideration for the cast, including Jim Carrey, James Franco, and Joaquin Phoenix (?). But the doubtful honor finally went to John Cena. And it is further worth stating that the script has been in an unending cycle of changes and as a result now six people are credited as having written it, alongside, two others who did ‘story by’ for David Uchino and Jason Decker. At best, it is a tapestry work, which is unfortunate because it appears that Cena is having considerable fun and is even prepared to do much more. And I truly believe it could have grossed just over a billion dollars if better times had come along with more competent people.
But it is not a flower, it is the year of 2024, which is why Ricky Stanicky is full of stand up comedians who are not actors but people with altered names playing themselves under the direction of Peter Farrell and thrown onto Amazon Prime scheduling just before the sale of toilet plungers.
I guess the snorting of a turd may have been omitted from the final cut of Ricky Stanicky, but it is clear that there was a quip about urine that was saved. The house, although entirely digital, contains jokes that remind one of Farrell’s earlier works like Green Book and The Greatest Beer Run Ever and it appears he appreciated the opportunity to tell genuine ash stories and just wanted to go back to telling those disgusting jokes of his.
Zac Efren plays Dean, the stereotypical hedge fund manager who is unfazed by work, and along with Andrew Santino playing JT and Jermaine Fowler’s Wes, have a proven alibi that would save them from any crime involving the actual character. An early instance we see is Dean and JT dread the prospect of attending Kelly’s baby shower and are instead excited at the thought of Marc Reilley’s concert at Atlantic City. How do they manage to avoid the shower? Ricky has been told that his cancer has reoccurred, the boys are summoned to Albany for the post-operative days.
As the boys cut their weekend trip short because Jothi’s’ wife’ is in labor, they return back to a bunch of shady relatives who were busy calling all the hospitals in Albany looking for any of the guys who had their phones switched off to avoid being located, and there was not a trace of either Ricky or Stanicky anywhere. As a means of saving face with their families, Dean comes up with something very original, in his opinion: Why shouldn’t they get the drunk actor who they’ve come across in AC? His name is “Rock Hard” Rod, and while he certainly isn’t going to do a great job convincing their families that Ricky is real, our boys are fairly low on choices.
This is where we get introduced to Rod who although is just as much into the act of being Ricky as is Cena in playing him, the entire fraud these imbeciles have cooked up is a disaster waiting to explode. Because after all, Rod is quite a fan of being Ricky & there’s no chance he will grab the cash and bolt. Once the performance is out of sight, Rod does not quit performance altogether, he’s even engaged by Dean and JT’s employer, and promptly gets a position which has more authority and pays more than the said jerks. It’s a different story that Rod’s ability is so far limited to how to tan the words of popular rock tracks that he is performing solo it didn’t tickle me but I would love to hear what Peter Frampton would say when he saw Rod belting out “Ooh baby, I masturbate, everyday yeah, yeah” because ‘Ricky’ is said to be a jack of different trades. The more Rod overacts, the more and more chaos is included into the lives of Dean, JT, and Wes.
If only there was some authentic comedy incorporated in this pandemonium instead of some stale wise cracks which are dangling off this drama king’s overused thread. It’s that type of film which is more concerned with how a line is delivered, rather than where in the story it fits, or even what its significance is; I seem to remember Wes saying once, “At some point, I feel like I am in a gay Handmaid’s Tale”, but even mentioning that there is a credible streaming show was more important than the context of that quote in relation to the script. The message of this phrase as well as of the movie overall, is not to break the mold, but you would expect that at least in the middle of There’s Something About Mary and Hall Pass this film is somewhere.
One non relatable issue of all this is, it being the Efren performance which came right after the fantastic Efren’s performance in last year’s The Iron Claw, which was a high profile film where the usually adequate Efren tapped into new dramatic levels not seen before. Not even he finished carrying the chomping, movie stealing performance of Cena, a game what ever there performing who keeps on improving with every new role he takes.
Nonetheless, the Academy Awards are likely to remain the most entertaining thing Cena depicts over this month, no matter how hard he tried. More work appears to have gone into designing a gag to go with the presentation for the award for achievement in Costume Design than went into getting a new movie made with an Oscar winning director. If only this was that much of a sham.
For more movies like Ricky Stanicky visit 123Movies.