Amazon MGM Studios’ “Ricky Stanicky,” directed by Peter Farrelly, follows a group of childhood best friends, Dean, JT and Wes (Zac Efron, Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler). After a lie about a made-up friend they would use to get their way comes crashing down, the team is forced to hire a failing actor (John Cena) to play their fake friend Ricky Stanicky.
Comedy films don’t typically need a solid story, but the best ones, including Farrelly’s greats like “Dumb and Dumber” and “The Three Stooges,” have some resemblance of logical narrative structure. “Ricky Stanicky” benefits from a great premise that makes for lots of comedic setups throughout the film.
For example, JT misses his child’s birth to visit Stanicky in the hospital because he has cancer when in actuality, he’s seeing a concert across the country. It works because the audience isn’t supposed to sympathize with the characters, so getting into sticky situations makes for an entertaining watch.
The problem comes in rough dialogue and questionable character choices. Oftentimes, the dialogue doesn’t feel authentic, but more like a rough table read of the film. In terms of character decisions, many choices are made purely based on pushing the narrative rather than being normal human decisions, like when a rabbi jumps through the air to steal a flying peanut that isn’t actually a peanut, but ketamine.
The humor of each situation works really well, even if the script doesn’t always match that energy. The situations are so absurd that audiences can’t help but laugh. Two shining moments are when Cena’s character finishes a circumcision that was halfway done using just a cigar cutter and when Cena’s character books a corporate job and complains that his desk is made of “shit-wood” when he asks for a different kind.
John Cena shines brighter than anyone else in this film. His charm and dedication to his character’s humiliation make for many gut-busting moments such as the scene where he wore a skirt and ran from people he owed money to. He delivers every line with confidence and shows audiences how great of a comic actor he truly is. Agencies should be all over Cena after this, as no one else in Hollywood feels as kindhearted and hilarious as Cena these days. His performance is truly a treat.
“Ricky Stanicky” is a good-enough comedy with a questionable script that makes for a great comedic experience, adding to Farrelly’s filmography of “love it or hate it” comedies. Audiences will find this two-hour romp a delight and is worth the watch for those with access to Amazon Prime Video.
2 ½ imaginary friends to pin sins on out of 5
