There must exist some law when the filmmaker, the screenwriter and the entire cast pay a fine for causing a quiet emotional breakdown after you see a ridiculously irrelevant film such as DIRTY GRANDPA. It’s hard to imagine what the screenwriter was thinking when he wrote this story, but I sincerely wish that he would keep it to himself and not pass it on to someone else.
DIRTY GRANDPA follows a former Army Lieutenant-Colonel “Special Forces” Dick Kelly, who after the funeral of his beloved wife, heads to Florida for spring break. He intends to keep his promise he gave to his wife and continue to live his life to the fullest. This is why he asks his grandson, Jason (Zac Efron) to give him a ride. But the whole trouble is, Zac is one week away from his wedding, and has no intention to jeopardize his plans. However, the grandpa is quite persistent to leave any chance for Zac to say ‘no’.
In spite having a great chance to turn this film into something really funny, what happens next is a true nightmare of filmmaking as a whole. Once Jason gets into the car, he enters into the world of his too-modern-minded grandpa, who introduces him to a contaminated world full of drugs, girls, and inappropriate actions. Moreover, it sounds like the writer had an enormous problem with dialogues, as he could not come up with better lines, other than strong language that is not only unsuitable for children, but for respecting viewers as well.
As the film continues, it does not get better at all, but rather worse, which is amazingly terrifying. Robert De Niro’s Dick Kelly perhaps, is one of the worst characters ever written. Dick is unbearably offensive, unfunny and dull, just like the whole film, which makes you question yourself: “what was the entire cast thinking when they signed up to make such a dull film? As you get closer the middle of the film, the desire to request a refund is what will occupy your mind, while you wait for the “willingly paid torture” to end.
In conclusion, DIRTY GRANDPA offers nothing to the viewer except vulgar, tasteless scenes that can make the viewer laugh at, but only by chance. The entire story seems to have been written by a bunch of students who dreamt of having a life they could not get. In the end, if you allow me to give you a piece of advice, then I would strongly recommend you to invest your one hour and a half into something more useful than watching DIRTY GRANDPA. Believe me, you don’t really want to see De Niro in that shape, if you don’t want to lose your respect for him.