Movie Review: ‘Ricky Stanicky’ From Peter Farrelly

Review by James Lindorf

The same week Blumhouse releases its take on imaginary friends in theaters, Amazon is bringing Peter Farrelly’s (Green Book) take on the subject to your home with Prime Video. Peter Farrelly and his brother Bobby spent more than a decade as kings of the comedy genre with hits like “Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary,” and “Me, Myself, and Irene,” defining the genre and influencing a generation. The late 2000s and early 2010s saw decreased output and box office returns before Peters “Green Book” won three Oscars, including Best Picture in 2018. Unfortunately, he followed that up with the already forgotten Vietnam adventure drama “The Greatest Beer Run Ever,” leading Peter to return to his roots in buddy comedies with “Ricky Stanicky,” which will stream worldwide on March 7th.

Twenty-five years ago, In a moment of desperation, best friends Dean (Zac Efron), JT (Andrew Santino), and Wes (Jermaine Fowler) created Ricky Stanicky to take the blame for a prank gone wrong. Over the last two and a half decades, the trio have evoked Ricky’s name whenever they want to escape responsibility. They have gone as far as writing a “bible” of backstories and maintaining a fake Instagram account to keep their stories straight. Their latest adventure found the guys ditching the baby shower for JT’s wife, Susan (Anja Savcic), to go to a Marc Rebillet concert in Atlantic City. This leaves Susan, Dean’s girlfriend Erin (Lex Scott Davis), and Wes’s boyfriend Keith (Daniel Monks) to handle things, including Susan’s early labor. The three are forced into a corner when their better-halves are angry, suspicious, and demanding to meet the fabled Mr. Stanicky. Terrified of revealing the truth, Dean hires raunchy celebrity impersonator and alcoholic “Rock Hard” Rod (John Cena) to bring Ricky to life. When Rod begins to take his role of a lifetime Rod too far and when Dean and JT’s boss Summerhayes (William H. Macy) gets sucked in, they begin to regret ever inventing Ricky.

It has been 30 years since the release of “Dumb and Dumber,” but Farrelly proves that he is still highly capable of creating a raunchy, R-rated, buddy comedy. The movie was carried on the expansive shoulders of John Cena in the titular role. Between Max’s “Peacemaker” and “Ricky Stanicky,” Cena shows that he is up for everything as he again proves his comedic chops. While Cena is the reason to see the film, the entire supporting cast performs well. Macy is great, Fowler is endearing, and Efron plays well against his “High School Musical” persona as Dean, the traumatized liar willing to drug innocent people and risk his job and relationship to keep his secrets. While Farrelly was able to slide back into the comedy, the film comes up short by being unable to balance the humor with heart.

Movie convention says that we should expect Rod to impact the three men’s lives by making them see the error of their ways or pointing them in the right direction. When the credits roll, you may be able to say that it happened, but it is done in such a glossed-over manner that it has no lasting impact. Instead of these bonding moments, we get repeated jokes about “air dicking” a very awkward public speaking mannerism. Cena’s Rod is the only character that shows meaningful growth throughout the film, while childhood friends’ arcs all take distinct paths. Wes is the first to get alone time with Rod, and while Fowler impresses with how he imbues the character with eagerness and authenticity, Wes’ growth ends before it really begins. Santino’s JT is the least developed of the three friends, spending the film trying to decide if he is an all-in new-age father or if the wife and child exist to be seen and not heard while JT does whatever he wants. He is the least likable character in the movie, and that doesn’t change much, as his story arc is more of a flatline. Dean’s story is the mirror image of Wes’. While Dean is always participating, he is nearly as flat as JT, except he gets the luxury of scenes with Erin and their dog Paul to help humanize him. Because Dean is the most reluctant to out Ricky as fake, his epiphany is supposed to be the most moving. Unfortunately, while Efron and everyone involved are doing their best, the motivating factors are underdeveloped and dumped on us in the final minutes, leading to an undeserved change.

“Ricky Stanicky” often steers too far into childish jokes and antics when it has the opportunity to do something better. Don’t get me wrong, I could watch John Cena sing masturbation-themed parody songs all day on some social media platform. However, when I invest 108 minutes into a movie, I want a more well-rounded experience. The worst part is that you can see how easily they could have gotten there with such a talented director and cast. “Ricky Stanicky” provides laugh-out-loud jokes in a story about that friend we all wish we had, but its lack of genuine emotional depth makes this a friendship that won’t stand the test of time on its way to earning a 3 out of 5.

Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Director: Peter Farrelly
Producer: Paul Currie, Thorsten Schumacher, John Jacobs, Michael De Luca
Writer: Jeff Bushell, Brian Jarvis, Jim Freeman, Peter Farrelly, Pete Jones, Mike Cerrone
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 7, 2024
Runtime: 1h 48m
Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios