Ricky Stanicky, 2024.
Directed by Peter Farrelly.
Starring Zac Efron, John Cena, Andrew Santino, Jermaine Fowler, William H. Macy, Lex Scott Davis, Anja Savcic, Jeff Ross, Debra Lawrance, Heather Mitchell, Daniel Monks, Jane Badler, Nathan Jones, Sloan Fischer, Marta Kaczmarek, Ryan Shelton, Jim Knobeloch, Bob Farrelly, Sharon Johal, Sean Gildea, Harrison Frick, Charlie Torr, Jackson Tover, Francesca Waters, Apple Farrelly, Jasper Bagg, Riley Stiles, Oscar Wilson, and Gaius Nolan.
SYNOPSIS:
When three childhood best friends pull a prank that goes wrong, they invent the imaginary Ricky Stanicky to get them out of trouble. Twenty years later, they still use the nonexistent Ricky as a handy alibi for their immature behavior.
With director Peter Farrelly returning to his edgy, gross-out comedic roots while also attempting to retain some of the serious-minded, good-intentioned positive messaging of his recent dramatic stint, there is practically no more suited acting collaborator than a professional wrestler turned actor just as known for those talents as his dedication toward the Make-A-Wish foundation and uplifting others.
In Ricky Stanicky, John Cena plays an alcoholic performing pornographic covers of famous rock ‘n’ roll songs (a montage of them serving as easily the funniest scene in the movie) in Atlantic City, offered what feels like the opportunity of a lifetime by a trio of best friends. Zac Efron’s hotshot financial firm worker Dean is the ringleader, enlisting Rod to embrace his inner aspiring actor and present himself as the fictional Ricky, a character made up since childhood to take the fall for their shenanigans (nearly setting a house on fire when attempting the classic dingdong ditch with a flaming bag of shit up against the front door prank) or an excuse to weasel out of relationship responsibilities and do something fun that generally requires some form of travel, hence the trip to Atlantic City.
The reason is that the friends and family of these three, including Andrew Santino’s JT and Jermaine Fowler’s Wes, have decided to meet Ricky, with some beginning to question his existence. Who can blame them, considering the trio’s outlandish tales of Ricky battling testicular cancer that spread to the anus after some adventurous years of humanitarian work across the globe? They can hardly keep the story straight, but nevertheless, the cancer is in remission, and they have cornered themselves into Ricky being invited to a brisk for JT’s newborn son.
The lies will catch up to this friend group sooner or later, with the film being self-aware of how wrong the fibs are. However, that doesn’t stop some of the situations that arise from being outrageous, especially with an endearing, likable John Cena offsetting their selfish behavior. Reading a “bible” of everything the friends have conjured up about Ricky while also having access to the equally fake social media accounts, Ricky swiftly learns the playbook and shows himself to be reliable at playing the part. He needs the money being offered to him, especially since some suspicious characters back at Atlantic City are seemingly willing to do harm based on some deep debt.
Unlike the friends who only think of themselves and how they can get away clean, Ricky, however, finds himself utilizing a combination of bluntness with no filter and sincerity as he goes beyond playing the role and starts cutting into the lives of others with genuinely worthwhile advice. These people include Dean’s news reporter wife (Lex Scott Davis), Dean’s strung-out boss trying to broker a company merger (William H. Macy), a woman whom everyone finds weird due to her overly long hair except him (a romantic subplot that mostly feels disappointingly chopped from the final cut), relationship and book writing advice to Wes, and impressing a party crowd once he finds himself as the next best option to perform the circumcision on JT’s baby.
On the surface, it’s clear what Ricky Stanicky is doing as a film, slowly showing the implosion of years of lies while someone at rock bottom turns a strange opportunity into an outlet to do some good. In a warped way, this aligns with Peter Farrelly’s recent interest in inspirational storytelling, mixed in with the shock value humor one would expect from one half of the sibling team that brought viewers something as morally slippery and offensive but undeniably entertaining as There’s Something About Mary. One also sees why John Cena might have been instantly interested in a role that pushes him into some truly raunchy territory, ready to do anything for a laugh wrapped up in a character, ultimately, trying to do some good.
There is also something off about Ricky Stanicky, and a good starting point is the fact that the screenplay has six credited names. That shows throughout the running time considering the confused focus (Ricky should be the main character here, and the story suffers anytime it positions Dean as the lead) and elongated sequences that are not only stretched far too thin but sometimes write the film into a corner. How these screenwriters find a means for the story to continue becomes too preposterous and tiring as the narrative begins taking itself a little too seriously.
It would be unfair to say that Peter Farrelly is holding something back, given what is being mined for jokes here, but he hasn’t successfully threaded the needle between raunch and feel-good positivity (the way the script tries to absolve some of the lying is also forced and ridiculous) with Ricky Stanicky. However, John Cena earns laughs every time he is on screen in one of his most fascinating roles, considering what he stands for as a person and the film’s message.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
