Ricky Stanicky movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Ricky Stanicky

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 48 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: D for dimwitted raunch

IN A NUTSHELL:

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.

I recognize that I am not the target audience for this movie. At first, I wasn’t going to do a review because I thought it was so terrible, but then my sister started watching a trashy movie that I had decided not to review and I felt badly that I hadn’t warned her about it. So that’s what this is: a serious warning for those who don’t want to naively select this film to watch and then waste their time and money on it.

I kept watching it, thinking “Surely, it’ll get better.” Nope. They quickly try to throw in a lesson in morality at the end of the movie but that doesn’t make up for being assaulted with trash for almost two hours.

I agree with the character in the movie that says, “I just want to go on record and say this is a really bad idea.”

THINGS I LIKED:

I really get a kick out of John Cena. He was a massively successful professional wrestler and has now proven he is up for anything to make it big in movies. I mean anything. I mean cringy and gross stuff I don’t want to see. That being said, he works harder than anyone in this movie and has some genuinely funny moments when he’s not being disgusting.
I also like Zac Efron but I thought he had moved past this kind of raunchy content. He certainly has done a lot of it, yet I’ve also seen him do actually good acting.
I also really like William Macy and was surprised and disappointed to see him be so willing to jump at the crude gestures that are just not funny.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

I’m constantly surprised at the garbage that’s put out as movies these days. Not that I’ve ever watched a porn movie, but this seems to fit in that category.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

This movie is definitely not appropriate for kids. So much of the content is completely offensive and centered around sex.
If you don’t like watching filthy garbage, this movie is also not for you.

THEMES:

Honesty
Friendship
Second chances
Believing in yourself
Supporting others
Redemption

FUNNY LINES:

“To Ricky Stanicky, the best friend we never had.” – Dean (Zac Efron)
“All we did was tell one lie.” – JT “Hundreds and hundreds of times over many, many years.” – Dean (Zac Efron)