I’ll admit to having had zero exposure to John Cena before he came onto the scene in 2021’s The Suicide Squad as Peacemaker, a role he reprised in the eponymous sequel HBO series. Cena, whose physical form resembles that of a shape-shifting alien who modelled its human look on a 90’s comic book character, is seemingly capable of bringing an unparalleled level of action and comedy to everything he touches, and his presence alone was the only reason I had any interest in seeing Ricky Stanicky.
Cena is undoubtedly the best part of the movie. We’ll get to that. First, I want to talk about forgiveness. I want to ask you a question: If your romantic partner had lied to your face dozens of times to get out of attending social events with you by concocting an elaborate story about a childhood friend battling cancer, would you forgive them after it all came crashing down? What if their two best friends were in on it and were also lying to their partners? What if the three of them had been lying to everyone for two decades? No, no, take your time. Just think about it. We’ll circle back.
This is pretty much the premise of Ricky Stanicky. Zac Effron plays the main friend of this trio, all of whom are lying to their significant others on a regular basis. The other two friends are pretty much entirely incidental to both the plot and the main character arcs of the movie. Forget they exist. They have funny lines every now and then, but mostly they’re pretty boring. Same with Effron, I suppose. He’s a phenomenal actor (do yourself a favour and watch The Iron Claw if you haven’t already) but he just can’t match Cena in terms of comedy. What character does Cena play, you ask? Well, when Zac and his friends (if their characters had names, no they didn’t) are on the brink of being found out for their lies, they decide to hire an actor they met on a clandestine trip to Las Vegas to stand in as their ‘longtime friend whom none of their partners or family have ever met’, the dubiously named ‘Ricky Stanicky.’ Yeah, listen, it’s movie logic… or movie illogic, I suppose. Roll with it.
Thankfully, Cena is present in nearly every scene of the movie after he’s introduced, and I really have to admire the man’s ability to just go for it. He’s a true entertainer. His character is an actor and performer called Rock-Hard Rod who performs a regular show consisting of parodies of popular songs, twisting the lyrics to incorporate as many jokes about the male genitals as possible, complete with ludicrous wardrobe changes. The songs are funny only in how stupidly not-funny they are, but if you aren’t in the least bit tickled by the sight of John Cena wearing Britney Spears’ outfit from ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ as he flees debt collectors by climbing out a window and landing in a pile of garbage, then you’re going to want to steer well clear of this movie. There’re no smart jokes here. No thinkers. Nothing you wouldn’t expect to see on a good episode of SNL.
Thing is, I wasn’t expecting anything more than what I got from this movie. It’s not trying to be smart or subversive or anything other than the kind of ‘dude-comedy’ movie that would’ve been felt right at home back when the first Hangover movie came out. I was really tempted to give this movie five stars on Letterboxd simply because it does what it does so well. John Cena is funny. Watching Rock-Hard Rod adapt to the increasingly ridiculous scenarios he finds himself in after taking on the role of Ricky (something he takes very seriously) is fun. Oh, and William H. Macy from Fargo is in this! And he’s funny, too!
The only thing that got stuck in my throat on the way down was the ending. Spoilers, I suppose. Think back to the question I posed earlier. Would you forgive your partner if they lied to you as often as Zac did to his partner in this movie? The fact that Zac’s partner does forgive him is frankly insane. Even when the movie was clearly leaning in that direction, I was constantly expecting to have the rug pulled out from underneath me for laughs. When it didn’t do that, and instead ended on a saccharine moment of attempted sincerity, I felt a little let down. Like, girl, have some self-respect! I guess the lesson is that if you look like Zac Effron, you can get away with anything. Fellas, take note; you’re one accident of genetics away from being free from persecution for any wrongdoing in a romantic relationship!
Ricky Stanicky is the kind of movie that you’ll forget you ever watched after a month. But maybe someday, when the seasons pass and the sun shines a little dimmer and the weight of the world is resting heavy on your shoulders, you’ll scroll far enough back in your Letterboxd diary and see that in the year 2024, you watched Ricky Stanicky. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll remember how absurdly large John Cena’s hands looked in the scene where he was dressed up as Billy Idol and you’ll chuckle. And it will have all been worth it.
***
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