Ricky Stanicky – Movie Review

Ricky Stanicky is a lighthearted comedy about a group of friends whose made-up fall guy becomes all too real.

Plot

“All we did was tell one lie.” – JT

“Hundreds and hundreds of times over many, many years.” – Dean

Ever since they were children and a prank went horribly wrong, best friends Dean (Zac Efron), JT (Andrew Santino), and Wes (Jermaine Fowler) have used their made up bestie Ricky Stanicky as the fall guy. As adults not much has changed, and they use Ricky as an excuse to bail on events they don’t want to go to.

Now, right before JT and his wife Susan’s (Anja Savcic) baby shower, Dean gets an urgent call. It’s Ricky. The cancer’s back. Because he’s going into surgery to potentially get his second testicle removed and is all alone, Susan and Dean’s girlfriend Erin (Lex Scott Davis) insist they go spend some time by Ricky’s side. The reluctantly agree… and meet up with Wes (the voice on the phone) to begin their guy’s trip to Atlantic City with newfound concert tickets. On the airplane they’re careful to turn off their phones to prevent any potential tracking. I’m sure that’s not going to come back to bite them.

After having a blast at the concert, the guys meet a rather strange aspiring actor known as “Rock Hard Rod” (John Cena). For now, he’s a little down on his luck though, making his living as an X-rated rock and roll impersonator who performs popular songs with rewritten lyrics about masturbation. It’s actually pretty funny but they guys aren’t too impressed. Rod wants to hang out with them for the rest of the night, but JT turns him down a little harshly. Dean chases after Rod and apologizes to him, taking Rod’s card before leaving.

“Remember that name. I promise it’s going to mean something to you some day.” – Rock Hard Rod

Dean turns his phone on for a moment and oh do the floodgates open. Family has been frantically trying to get ahold of the guys because JT’s wife has gone into labor 6 weeks early. They head back immediately to an onslaught of confusion. While they had their phones turned off, JT’s family had called every hospital in their supposed location asking for Ricky Stanicky. There’s some doubt cast on the guy’s story, and Wes, who’s been wanting to come clean for a while, tries to tell the truth.

Instead, Dean blurts out a story about how Ricky got them to come out under false pretenses and was just wanting to celebrate 5 years cancer free with his besties. Because people (mainly JT’s Mother in law) are starting to get suspicious of the existence of Ricky. Dean also comes up with the idea to hire Rock Hard Rod to play Ricky for JT’s newborn son, Whitaker’s bris.

At first the guys are concerned about how Rod might play this off. He’s a self-proclaimed alcoholic but is dedicated to his role as Ricky Stanicky, who’s in recovery. Rod quickly impresses them with his depth of knowledge about Ricky after studying their book of Ricky Stanicky stories over the years.

At the bris, Ricky charms everyone he meets with his wit and extensive humanitarian efforts. So much so that Erin decides to try to do a story about him for a local news channel’s “Hero of the Week” segment and Dean and JT’s boss, Summerhays (William H. Macy), decides to hire him. The only problem is Ricky Stanicky isn’t real… until Rod decides to legally change his name and live as Ricky.

Is the truth about Ricky going to come out and ruin Dean, JT, and Wes’s lives? Will Ricky wreck the big merger with World River that Summerhays has been working on? Will the news channel Erin works for uncover the truth about Ricky and fire her? You’ll have to watch Ricky Stanicky to find out!

My Thoughts

I thought Ricky Stanicky was really entertaining. It was a silly R-rated comedy that was a pleasant way to kill a couple hours of my day. Okay, so there was some gross stuff in it (the dog stuff later on) but if you can get past that, it can be really hilarious.

I thought this scene pretty well summed up the humor of the movie.

(Minor Spoiler)

I will say that I thought the ending was super convenient, but this movie wasn’t made for serious introspection of anything other than a casual “hey, maybe you shouldn’t lie to everyone you know about silly stuff for personal gain.”

(Spoiler Over)

That’s it! If you like inappropriate buddy comedies, Ricky Stanicky might be the movie for you. Pop some popcorn and check it out!