Whether the reasons given for Dirty Grandpa being underrated are agreed with or not the movie really didn’t get a lot of love from critics and even less from sites like Rotten Tomatoes. It’s true that it does have kind of a sick sense of humor and is another movie made about getting wild and dirty during Spring Break. But there are some deeper elements to the movie as well even if they get preempted by the comedy now and again. The grandpa character played by De Niro is understandably crude and only ever seems to have one thing on his mind, but it’s a feeling that at least one younger woman, who’s young enough to be his granddaughter, can reciprocate.
It’s the story of a dirty old man that, after the passing of his wife, wants to get back out on the scene and have fun.
10. Zac Efron is not acting like a jerk during any of it.
In a handful of appearances he’s had Efron has been kind of a jerk to people but in this movie he’s not so much of a jerk as he is a repressed young man desperately needing some sort of release.
9. Robert De Niro is finally being allowed to cut loose.
De Niro tends to be more reserved and quiet in a lot of movies, almost like a statue at times as he adheres to his role. In this movie he gets to come out and have fun.
8. It’s a young person’s movie with an older person’s perspective.
De Niro is out to interact with the college students but isn’t going to take any of their garbage either. While Spring Break is seen primarily as a young person’s time to be entertained De Niro proves that he’s still able to put on a clinic when it comes to drinking and partying he manages to put a couple of the younger guys under the table.
7. The movie has a very strong lesson about not taking life too seriously.
Efron’s character is simply too wound up and is unable to really have fun until he and his grandfather meet up with the girls they meet in a restaurant. This stodgy act is kind of unlike a lot of his other characters.
6. It reaffirms that age is just a number.
De Niro isn’t done by a long shot is what it seems like in this movie and his best years aren’t behind him yet.
5. It was hilarious.
From start to finish this movie is a laugh riot no matter what the critics say since there’s enough actual humor in the movie to carry it through.
4. It did have a romantic element buried within the plot.
Efron does after all meet up with the one woman that might have changed his life around had they been together over the years.
3. The movie does kind of show the danger of marrying someone that’s too controlling.
The woman he’s about to marry is one of the worst since she has to micro-manage everything. If you can put up with that then great, but if not then it’s time to move on.
2. It shows that every now and then there are second chances at the life you wanted.
Just because you miss the boat on the first try doesn’t mean it won’t come back again.
1. It makes a good point about not taking the elderly for granted.
A lot of people see that De Niro is old and looks kind of washed out. But that doesn’t mean he’s not a great actor.
It was funny, no matter what the critics say.
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