Lionsgate | Release Date: January 22, 2016
4.0
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Mixed or average reviews based on 248 Ratings
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Positive:
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Mixed:
52
Negative:
127
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7
NightReviewsFeb 3, 2016
Okay, I know what you all may be thinking, Dirty Grandpa, the newest comedy featuring Robert “Refusing To Take A Pay-Cut” De Niro is just another sad excuse of a comedy featuring a world-class veteran actor whose acting days are numbered andOkay, I know what you all may be thinking, Dirty Grandpa, the newest comedy featuring Robert “Refusing To Take A Pay-Cut” De Niro is just another sad excuse of a comedy featuring a world-class veteran actor whose acting days are numbered and career is slowly fading? Actually, the fact of the matter is, Dirty Grandpa is a very funny, very over-the-top, very rambunctious comedy with nothing but entertainment value, laughs and some good old-fashioned Hollywood fun at the movies, poking redeem fun at itself following the heavy and highly melodramatic Oscar burdened December month.

I can think of so many other disappointing January films that I’ve seen in the past, that quickly make way onto my list of Worst Films of the year. Luckily for Dick Kelly (De Niro) and his lawyer loving grandson Jason Kelly (Zac Efron), the two won’t be making their way to that list. Filled with deadpan dirty talk, highly sexualize jokes, crude, rude and obnoxious taboo social references, Dirty Grandpa becomes one wild and dirty-minded fun filled trip to start off 2016.

Not that the film should be a reflection of the film caliber of 2016, but Dirty Grandpa never becomes a film that falls and cannot get back up. Instead, the first comedy of 2016 tells the similar story to Pixar’s Up; but instead of the adorable Carl Fredricksen taking a wild trip on his hot-air balloon, Dick Kelly decides that, after a fifteen years abstinence, and with the loving approval of his dying wife, the secret ex-Military man decides to trick his favourite grandson along for a ride to Daytona Beach to find some horny and foul-mouth twenty somethings in a pink Mini Cooper. Kind of the same thing, right?

What begins as a simple guys trip with golfing, dining and some male bonding, quickly turns into a wild weekend looking for answers for both men; sensory for Dick, and emotionally for Jason, who is unsure about his marriage to the all too perfect and tremendously overbearing Meredith Goldstein (Julianne Hough), who ultimately becomes the sexiest Bridezilla we have seen on film in a while.

Luckily for our unlikely duo, answers quickly come, in the form of Lenore (Aubrey Plaza); a wild mouth lascivious college girl looking to bone a senior for the sake of completing a life long list of hers; and Shadia (Zoey Deutch), a free-spirited, organic loving, tree-hugging hipster who is the complete opposite of Jason’s Meredith. With the girls off to Daytona Beach, Dick begs his grandson Jason to pursue them, knowing that Dick is surely going to be able fulfill his dreams of sleeping with a college student. Luckily for the audience, the wildly uncalled for sexual banter between the doe-eyed Plaza and De Niro is what we look forward to the most, making their dialogue the highlight of the film overall. I mean, how funny is it hearing De Niro shout out things like, “Party ’till your pregnant!”, or “I got news for you. That’s the only thing that's going to be pulling out tonight.”(speaking about a pull-out couch).

While the trip to Daytona Beach is anything but smooth, the duo encounter a slew of college obstacles that get in the way of their overall goals of bedding the girls of their dreams; from wild crack smoking Macarena drug-induced trips, to chugging contests, to “Flex-Offs” against dim-witted college jocks Cody and Brah (Jake Picking and Michael Hudson), acting as the duo’s main nemesis throughout the film, Dirty Grandpa is one downright messy, and we love it.

Director Dan Mazer, the man behind writing comedy classic Borat and of course the highly bloated sequel-ish Brüno shortly after, does a decent job of delivering the laughs with a cast that could carry any movie and its comedic material any day of the week. Luckily for Mazer, Dirty Grandpa won’t be a critical hit by any means, but commercially, with a mere $11.5 million dollar budget, the film will likely make a decent marginal profit for the director.

Its rude, its offensive and most of all, the social satire here is totally tasteless, although it is really funny seeing an elderly De Niro asking a group of black street thugs permission of using the derogatory ‘N’ word while singing Ice Cube’s “It Was A Good Day” in a Karaoke bar with his newly made ‘homies’. Plus, when is a raunchy comedy not offensive? Obviously, if the film and its main sh*t disturbing protagonist isn’t raising a few eyebrows, something is wrong.

De Niro is Hollywood royalty and can basically do whatever he wants with little to almost no repercussions at this point in his career. So if Robert De Niro, a man who notorious for his contributions to film, The Tribeca Film Festival, New York City culture (including trendy NYC restaurants and hot-spots) wants to do a film where he wears and shows off his prosthetic penis on-screen, hey, Mark Wahlberg did it, why not De Niro?
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4 of 6 users found this helpful42
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8
Tss5078Feb 18, 2016
Upon reading other reviews for this film, I've seen people say things like, "has Robert De Niro lost his mind?" and "you know you're pretty desperate for work when you start ripping off Johnny Knoxville." It is for this reason, that peopleUpon reading other reviews for this film, I've seen people say things like, "has Robert De Niro lost his mind?" and "you know you're pretty desperate for work when you start ripping off Johnny Knoxville." It is for this reason, that people are staying away from this film, and they are making a big mistake, here's why. At 73, with over one hundred films under his belt, is it really that surprising that Robert De Niro is bored and looking to try something new? In reviewing his credits, he's never been in what one would call a raunchy comedy, and for it what it's worth, he was outstanding. De Niro plays a man who has just lost his wife of fifty year, and is looking to reconnect with his Grandson, and of course get laid. After tricking his Grandson into taking him to Florida, the two wind up at Spring Break in South Beach, where the hilarity begins. De Niro's grandson is played by Zac Efron, who took a while to lose the teen idol label and find his niche as the awkward, but lovable guy in these extreme comedies. Their two characters are so different, that just bringing the personalities together is enough to make things funny, but when you throw them into ridiculous situations together the laughter is off the charts. Personally, I am someone who has found some of the most classic comedies of all time to be a waste of time. Humor is something I enjoy, but not something that I understand easily, and I found Dirty Grandpa to be one of the funniest films, I've ever seen. You will not believe just how raunchy it gets or the lengths De Niro is prepared to go to in order to get some good laughs at his age. I too was thinking this film would be "okay" at best, but I was wrong, and so are my fellow critics. Dirty Grandpa is hysterical and those who are avoiding it due to bad reviews and similarities to other films, are really missing out. Expand
4 of 7 users found this helpful43
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7
bttrmoviesFeb 2, 2016
"Right before his wedding, uptight lawyer Jason (Zac Efron) is tricked into driving his grandfather Dick (Robert De Niro), a perverted former Army general, to Florida for spring break." A movie with the title "Dirty Grandpa" can only be a"Right before his wedding, uptight lawyer Jason (Zac Efron) is tricked into driving his grandfather Dick (Robert De Niro), a perverted former Army general, to Florida for spring break." A movie with the title "Dirty Grandpa" can only be a certain type of movie, so you need to keep that in mind going into this. That being said, I can confidently say it's probably dirtier and raunchier than you would expect. I watched the red-band trailer before viewing it, and I was still surprised. I'll say right off the bat, I seem to have the unpopular opinion on this movie right now: I actually enjoyed it.

Let me start with what I liked about the film. With maybe one or two exceptions, I thought the acting in this was fairly good. De Niro really embraces the title role, dropping f-bombs at a rate he hasn't reached since his last Scorsese movie. He's also been an actor that has been known to phone it in from time to time in recent years, and Dirty Grandpa seemed to be a project where he seemed to be having fun playing this over-the-top filthy character. Zac Efron essentially plays the straight man to De Niro, and he does it well. There's one scene where he gets to let loose and it's refreshing to see that he hasn't lost his comedic chops since Neighbors (which he was remarkable in and gets to revisit this year in the upcoming sequel). The standouts, however, are two characters played by Jason Mantzoukas (The League) and Adam Pally (Happy Endings), who are two fairly big names in the alternative comedy scene. I happen to be a big fan of both, and it's nice to see them pop up in more movies that the general public sees. Mantzoukas plays Pam, a drug dealer who owns a merch shop on Daytona Beach, and he's basically a less-gross version of Rafi from The League. Pam is in more of the movie than I expected, which would be annoying had I not liked the character so much. Adam Pally plays Nick, Jason's crazy stoner cousin, who steals every scene he's in. The first few big laughs of the movie come from Nick, and unfortunately he doesn't really pop back up until the third act (save for one small scene over Skype midway through). The writing had some laugh-out-loud jokes that hit really well (at one point, Jason is referred to as a "Mitt Romney Terminator" based on his actions). I won't give away too many of the jokes, because some of them come out of left field and are funnier when unexpected.

However, the script is also where I start to get into what I didn't like. If you've seen pretty much any romantic comedy ever made, you know the storyline of this movie. As mentioned in the synopsis, Jason is about to get married to a very high-strung woman (played a bit flamboyantly by Julianne Hough). Very early on during their journey, Jason and Dick stop at a diner where a group of twentysomethings are sitting nearby. One of the group members is a girl that had a photography class with Jason in high school (you can probably already tell where it'll go from here). And what you think will happen indeed does happen, which is one of the movie's faults: it's very predictable. As soon as I saw the aforementioned diner scene unfold, I knew the roadmap for the rest of the movie. Also worth noting is that while most of the jokes worked for me some fell flat. Very flat. A few even teeter on being pretty offensive. And that's something you need to know going into this: if you are someone who is easily offended, dear god do NOT see this movie. It pulls no punches, and I can't help but feel it might have been better off it did pull a few.

Dirty Grandpa was one of the lowest-brow, hardest-R comedies I've seen in a long time, and you know what? I laughed my ass off. This is a dumb comedy that knows exactly what it is and who its fans are. Now granted, this certainly isn't for everyone, nor is it even close to a perfect movie. However, I ended up having a fun time with this film and ultimately, isn't that the point of a comedy?
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2 of 4 users found this helpful22
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8
LamontRaymondJan 26, 2016
I've seen my fair share of terrible comedies over the last couple of years - Hot Time Machine 2 comes to mind - but Dirty Grandpa is certainly not one of them. Not even in the same zip code. It's low-brow as hell, but it made me laugh hardI've seen my fair share of terrible comedies over the last couple of years - Hot Time Machine 2 comes to mind - but Dirty Grandpa is certainly not one of them. Not even in the same zip code. It's low-brow as hell, but it made me laugh hard a bunch of times. The cast is superb - Rafi from The League is superb, Plaza is over-the-top raunchy in a great way, and even DeNiro does an outstanding job with his part. I'd like to give it a 9, but there were a couple of pacing problems. Nothing major. If you like to laugh and you giggle when you see dicks drawn with black marker on drunk people's faces, don't hesitate to check this out. Expand
6 of 13 users found this helpful67
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9
Reviewer6418Jan 24, 2016
This is a solid comedy. After seeing the reviews I expected to be cringing throughout this film. Instead it turned out to be really funny. Yes - there are some cheesy parts, some offensive jokes, and some unfunny toilet humor. But thoseThis is a solid comedy. After seeing the reviews I expected to be cringing throughout this film. Instead it turned out to be really funny. Yes - there are some cheesy parts, some offensive jokes, and some unfunny toilet humor. But those moments are few and far between. For the most part there are A LOT of laughs. Aubrey Plaza is hilarious. And Zac Efron is great for the role - I loved the jokes at his expense. Expand
7 of 16 users found this helpful79
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7
Yooper369Jan 26, 2016
I must be an immature Grandpa myself because I laughed all the way through it. Its not Oscar material and its not PC. its just stupid funny! Left the show with a smile on my face.
4 of 10 users found this helpful46
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10
KatieDxxJan 31, 2016
Sorry...forgot to press the rating button :D I can only repeat...if an honest laugh is what you want...then this is for you....granted...it is not everyone's cup of tea...but then neither is Star Wars. I think it's unfair to judge DeSorry...forgot to press the rating button :D I can only repeat...if an honest laugh is what you want...then this is for you....granted...it is not everyone's cup of tea...but then neither is Star Wars. I think it's unfair to judge De Niro....he is nothing less than a brilliant actor...who after a long career...wants to experiment with different things...I love his comedy side...and I adore his character Jack Burns. Expand
2 of 5 users found this helpful23
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10
andreyppscFeb 14, 2016
I actually don't care (and quite don't get it why it has so many negative reviews) if most of you guys have felt this way about the movie; I'll be honest, for me, it has served its purpose - it was intended to make us/ me laugh and it did (II actually don't care (and quite don't get it why it has so many negative reviews) if most of you guys have felt this way about the movie; I'll be honest, for me, it has served its purpose - it was intended to make us/ me laugh and it did (I went a week ago to see this movie and the cinema was full; I'm telling you, EVERYONE was laughing the cr*p out of themselves) Expand
2 of 5 users found this helpful23
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10
UsercantbefoundJan 25, 2016
I was not sure about this film when my friend told me about it. The title didn't seem appealing. As soon as I watched this movie I was laughing very hard. I really enjoyed this film and I am glad I didn't trust the reviews for being so poor.I was not sure about this film when my friend told me about it. The title didn't seem appealing. As soon as I watched this movie I was laughing very hard. I really enjoyed this film and I am glad I didn't trust the reviews for being so poor. I promise you after 20 minutes of watching this film you will be crying and laughing so hard that will be warned to leave from the security. Enjoy and have fun with this film. Expand
8 of 22 users found this helpful814
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8
MurrayTFeb 1, 2016
I bet if this was De Niro's first movie, and if it maybe it had a different title, critics would be saying this was a brilliant new actor. I don't care about Raging Bull and Godfather Part II, or what stuffy critics have to say, when I watchI bet if this was De Niro's first movie, and if it maybe it had a different title, critics would be saying this was a brilliant new actor. I don't care about Raging Bull and Godfather Part II, or what stuffy critics have to say, when I watch a comedy I want to laugh and be entertained. This movie did both for me. Expand
2 of 6 users found this helpful24
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7
TheGreatBakerFeb 10, 2016
When I first heard about this I thought that this was honestly gonna be poor in every aspect, but then after seeing it with my friends the movie is a true comedy success. I will admit its not meant to be taken serious, but more so just toWhen I first heard about this I thought that this was honestly gonna be poor in every aspect, but then after seeing it with my friends the movie is a true comedy success. I will admit its not meant to be taken serious, but more so just to provide the audience with humor throughout the film. The plot may be lacking in some areas but the cast works well together to provide the viewer with a ample amount of laughs. Expand
2 of 7 users found this helpful25
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9
samichsupernovaFeb 8, 2016
Actually a 7 movie but I rated it 9 because there is waaaay too much hate for it. There are some dumb gags and it runs a bit long, sure, but most of the movie is a total riot. I didn't find it offensive, really, and anyone who does needs toActually a 7 movie but I rated it 9 because there is waaaay too much hate for it. There are some dumb gags and it runs a bit long, sure, but most of the movie is a total riot. I didn't find it offensive, really, and anyone who does needs to chill out and find something else to be upset about. The chemistry between De Niro and Efron and De Niro and Plaza is amazing and the writing is hilarious. Give it a chance! Expand
2 of 9 users found this helpful27
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7
RalfbergsJul 24, 2016
For people who like college type comedies and stuff like that, I think they will like this movie. Also you get to see De Niro in a comedic role. Of course it isn't one of his great roles or anything, but it's just a movie for fun. Yes it hasFor people who like college type comedies and stuff like that, I think they will like this movie. Also you get to see De Niro in a comedic role. Of course it isn't one of his great roles or anything, but it's just a movie for fun. Yes it has some dumb moments and scenes, but overall it isn't too cringy or anything. But maybe that's just me as I really like Aubrey Plaza and that's why I liked the movie :D Expand
1 of 5 users found this helpful14
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8
GentM2015May 23, 2016
Dirty Grandpa is a comedy film directed by Dan Mazer and written by John Philips. The film stars Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch and Aubrey Plaza.
After Jason's grandmother dies and just before his marriage, his grandfather asks him
Dirty Grandpa is a comedy film directed by Dan Mazer and written by John Philips. The film stars Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch and Aubrey Plaza.
After Jason's grandmother dies and just before his marriage, his grandfather asks him to go on a road trip to Daytona Beach, Fla., and there's where Jason learns a couple of lessons from his "dirty grandpa".
I found this movie really funny most of the time and I couldn't stop laughing at a lot of the jokes. I suppose that a lot of these negative reviews for this movie are from people who think that this movie is against their "morals". But it doesn't really matter, cause Dirty Grandpa has been a box office success and a lot of people liked it, including me.
Zac Efron is really funny, he has shown that he's got comedic guts over and over again. I am becoming a fan of as I keep on seeing him in these kind of movies .
Robert De Niro is also awesome on the role all throughout. I also really liked the supporting characters, especially Jason Mantzoukas as a drug dealer who had me laughing every time he was on screen.
Sure this movie isn't nowhere near a comedic masterpiece and nor is it trying to be. It is a fun ride from beginning to end, and despite all the cliches, the jokes are what make this ride worth it.
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0 of 3 users found this helpful03
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9
SimpsonFansJan 8, 2017
I bet if this was De Niro's first movie, and if it maybe it had a different title, critics would be saying this was a brilliant new actor. I actually care about Raging Bull and Godfather Part II but I don't care what stuffy critics have toI bet if this was De Niro's first movie, and if it maybe it had a different title, critics would be saying this was a brilliant new actor. I actually care about Raging Bull and Godfather Part II but I don't care what stuffy critics have to say about this movie. When I watch a comedy, I want to laugh and be entertained. This movie did both for me. Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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9
ThisIsSparta666Jan 8, 2017
I bet if this was De Niro's first movie, and if it maybe it had a different title, critics would be saying this was a brilliant new actor. I actually care about Raging Bull and Godfather Part II but I don't care what stuffy critics have toI bet if this was De Niro's first movie, and if it maybe it had a different title, critics would be saying this was a brilliant new actor. I actually care about Raging Bull and Godfather Part II but I don't care what stuffy critics have to say about this movie. When I watch a comedy, I want to laugh and be entertained. This movie did both for me. Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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8
cyanidedogJul 19, 2017
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the kind of movie you go in to see with a particular mindset. You need the mindset of "I want to laugh my ass off at offensive, vulgar humor". It's the kind of movie where you aren't looking to find the best comedy of the year, no comedy is "great" anyways. Sure a comedy can get one or two things right but they don't do any justice to movies as a whole. It all has to deal with the subjectivity of comedy. Humor is subjective and as such should not be held to a standard "comedy" it should all be rated on its own merits, separate from all other movies, even ones that are similar. Bad Grandpa fails in quite a few places, I find Efron's performance to fall flat. He did do pretty decent in some of the scenes but not many. The big draws of this movie were Robert De Niro and Aubrey Plaza. Not only were their characters hilarious and perfectly executed for most of the runtime, but they also had a chemistry going that made me believe these two could actually fall for each other. I think the most important fault in the movie was that they had Zac's character getting ready to be married and then falling for another girl, but they didn't have Zac's character's relationship being the main focus of the story. Instead the main focus was De Niro's character's hijinks and the bond between his and Efron's characters. Thus the relationship between Zac Efron and Zoey Deutch's characters felt heavy handed and unnecessary. While the character's arc was good, the execution made it feel less important. He was in a loveless relationship with an over-bearing, near abusive woman, and he got out by falling in love with someone else over the course of 3 days. Cuz that's totally realistic and would make someone call off a marriage. All in all, Dirty Grandpa needs to be watched just to laugh about the comedy, it's offensive and yet done in a way that's realistic. You look at the characters and most of the comedy done by most characters feels like an accurate portrayal of people in situations like that. This is not a movie to take seriously in the least. I loved it because this is my kind of humor and because, while the acting was stale in some cases, most of the actors and actresses did amazing jobs. Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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10
AllanbaxterOct 5, 2018
When I'm watching a movie I ask myself this question. Am I being entertained? Not only did this movie entertained, I found myself laughing at all the stupid (funny) humor this film had to offer. It's nice to see that Boddy D. does not takeWhen I'm watching a movie I ask myself this question. Am I being entertained? Not only did this movie entertained, I found myself laughing at all the stupid (funny) humor this film had to offer. It's nice to see that Boddy D. does not take himself too seriously. If you want to watch a fun stupid film this is it!! Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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10
CrystiKalJan 23, 2021
I could watch this over and over again. I think it one of the funniest movies I have ever watched.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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