Delivery Man

Maybe I'm a purist... but at the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival, we soooo loved "Starbuck," the French Canadian original of this movie, that we were pretty hostile when we heard about a remake. This time we are in luck. Writer/director Ken Scott ("Starbuck" ...smile...) used Martin Petit's original screenplay as his source, so we know this beloved script is in good hands, AND they didn't exaggerate or overplay anything as so often happens in American remakes. Whew!

Briefly, a young man made over 500 anonymous donations to a sperm bank a couple of decades ago because he was paid for each deposit (wait until you figure out how he used the money). Then, through a technical bungle, his were the only donations used for a year. Now, 142 of his offspring have filed a class action lawsuit to identify their father, who had used the name "Starbuck" for anonymity.

Here is the cast:

• Vince Vaughn ("Couples' Retreat") David really needed the money back when he lived next door to the sperm bank, now he's a delivery man for his father's butcher shop, kinda going nowhere, but happily content and blithely unaware of that former bungle.
• Chris Pratt ("Zero Dark Thirty") is Brett, our hero's best friend. He washed out of legal practice but wants to defend David and help him maintain his anonymity. Since the news hit the tabloids about that notorious lawsuit, Starbuck has become a punch line!
• Cobie Smulders ("Safe Haven") is Emma, the woman in his life. Now that our cop is pregnant, Officer Emma is having second thoughts about David's ability to be a good father. She thinks she might be better off going it alone.

This has a very, very large cast: we meet David's father and two married brothers, and then, when he takes a peek in the envelope that identifies the parties to the lawsuit, we meet a number of those offspring. The casting director for this one did a great job!

Rated PG-13, we see absolutely no sweaty bodies, hear no gunshots, endure no vehicular mayhem and suffer through no blowie uppie stuff. (See my original review of "Starbuck" for other comments and observations.)

This film is absurd, heartwarming, funny and great entertainment. I am so relieved they kept the original Canadian team and didn't screw this up. The only weak link is the casting of Vince Vaughn. ...sigh...

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Here is a link to a preview:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2224400665/
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