Let’s start by getting this out of the way: Due Date simply isn’t as good as The Hangover.

Now, if that statement has you thinking, "The Hangover was good?" then this movie is not likely to be up your alley either. Everyone else will be glad to know that director Todd Phillips’s brand of dark, bawdy humour goes very well with this Planes, Trains & Automobiles-esque tale of an odd couple on a chaotic road trip. It never reaches the sustained insanity of his previous effort, but is still a fun – if uneven – 95 minutes of comic shenanigans.

The plot is simple enough: a father (Downey Jr.) reluctantly takes a road trip with a stranger (Galifianakis) in order to rush home to his expectant wife (Monaghan). But our mismatched main men are what set Due Date apart. As the high-strung and unlikable Peter Highman, Downey Jr. plays it straight, sarcastic, and arrogant. It’s Phillips’s Hangover muse, Galifianakis, as wannabe actor Ethan Tremblay that has the most fun however. Following his dreams, en route to Hollywood with his father’s ashes in a coffee can and pet bulldog in tow, Ethan has grand aspirations to appear on that Citizen Kane of television shows: "Two and a Half Men". Put them together and hilarity ensues.

Like a real road trip, the film has its highs and lows with jokes that range from ridiculous and riotous to downright unsettling. Fortunately, the good ultimately outweighs the bad, making Due Date a trip well worth taking.