Respond to these rapid questions in our Why Him quiz and we will tell you which Why Him character you are. Play it now.
This raunchy R-rated comedy’s title, “Why Him?” serves as your first indication that it is far more concerned with the men engaged in battle across generational, emotional and socioeconomic lines than it is with the woman at its center.
By the way, the woman in question is Zoey Deutch, who portrays a bright and bubbly Stanford University senior with a strong sense of ambition and theoretical agency. However, the likable actress (see: “Everybody Wants Some!!”) is relegated to a role in which she is more of an idea and a pawn than she is anything else. “Why Him?” spends more time and energy (a LOT of energy) on the age-old battle between an overprotective father and the eager-to-please young man who hopes to become his son-in-law than any other film this year.
For the most part, Bryan Cranston and James Franco are relegated to one-note roles in what is essentially a one-joke film. John Hamburg, the director and co-writer who is also the creator of the “Fockers” franchise, borrows liberally from his previous work here, tweaking the central dynamic of those films while increasing the gross-out factor significantly. Compared to Franco, Cranston is tense and overprotective; Franco is unfiltered and overbearing. “Why Him?” is the central question that is hammered home for nearly two hours.
But you shouldn’t waste any more time and start this Why Him quiz.
Because of a single line spoken by Deutch’s character, Stephanie, we’re supposed to find both characters endearing (or at the very least admirable) because they’re both completely authentic, for better or worse, and that’s what makes them so endearing (or admirable). At the very least, they’re consistent, and that’s something.
Why Him Quiz
Ned Fleming, a Cranston resident and longtime owner of a Michigan printing company, has seen his business suffer recently as a result of the rise of digital greeting cards. With a celebratory scene at Applebee’s right from the start, “Why Him?” plays his Midwestern folksiness for easy, condescending laughs from the very beginning. But he agrees to accompany his cheerful wife, Barb (Megan Mullally), and their adolescent son, Scotty (Griffin Gluck), to California for Christmas in order to meet their daughter’s new boyfriend.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Why Him quiz.
That would be Franco’s Laird Mayhew, who Stephanie’s parents are completely unaware of the fact that a) he is ten years her senior and b) he is a tech billionaire. Laird lives in a ridiculous, minimalist monstrosity perched high in the hills above Silicon Valley, where a slew of employees, hangers-on, celebrity chefs, and farm animals come and go during the course of a typical day. Despite the grotesquery of such an exhibition of nouveau riche wealth, “Why Him?” has nothing to say about it; these are just a few random thoughts that flit by. Although Kaley Cuoco as the voice of Justine, Laird’s intrusive, in-house version of Siri, does not appear to be too far off in the future, it is still a long way off.
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Keegan-Michael Gustav, Laird’s right-hand man, concierge, and personal trainer, is played by Key, who provides the film’s few laughs. A running gag in which Gustav attacks Laird out of nowhere in order to keep him sharp and hone his parkour skills might have been amusing if the script from Hamburg and Ian Helfer hadn’t felt the need to point out the parallels between their relationship and that of Inspector Clouseau and Cato, which they did. Isn’t it true that jokes are always more amusing when they are explained afterwards?
Also, you must try to play this Why Him quiz.
But it’s impossible to keep Laird under control because he’s all impulse with his puppyish enthusiasm and profane chatter. He is desperate to win Ned’s approval (because Barb’s opinion is clearly irrelevant), but he runs the risk of alienating him in the process. Despite the fact that oddball characters are Franco’s bread and butter—repeatedly he’s demonstrated that he’s up for whatever weirdness is required of him—given he’s no nuance in this film. He’s just too extreme and exhausting to deal with. Cranston, on the other hand, is confined to the polar opposite end of the spectrum. Ned is judgmental and unyielding, with his repeated references to how much he and Barb enjoy the band KISS serving as the only indication that he was ever a good-natured individual.
“Why Him?” falls apart after an increasingly crass series of visual gags that include high-tech toilets, moose urine, and badly timed sexual shenanigans. It’s a familiar story for R-rated comedies, and it’s a sad one. It attempts to make us care about these characters, who are barely recognizable as human beings, by going soft and nice. After all, it is the holiday season. However, everyone involved in this situation should have requested a stronger script from Santa.
For more personality quizzes check this: Underworld Blood Wars Quiz.
