Review Tuesday: Ricky Stanicky (2024)

 

 

Ricky Stanicky

(2024)

A group of childhood friends hire a two-bit actor to play the role of their imaginary friend Ricky Stanicky.

I asked Mrs Bax0jayz to select something for movie night. I was shocked when she came up with Ricky Stanicky.   

I knew nothing about this movie and was immediately disappointed when it opened with a sequence with boys trick-or-treating and how their prank went wrong. Or did it? They invented a person to take the heat. A person who would be their excuse for everything for the rest of their lives. 

While on one of their adventures with Stanicky, one of the friends has an emergency at home, that brings this entire scam into question. They have to come up with something or be figured out as the lying fraudsters that they are. They hire a down-on-his-luck actor from Atlantic City to play the role as Ricky Stanicky. Hilarity ensues. 

I wasn't sure what to expect from this at first. The buddies, led by Zac Effron, seemed like the common troop you'd see in just about any Jason Bateman movie. But John Cena as Ricky Stanicky is absolutely amazing in this comedic role. I suppose all those years of professional wrestling taught him all about acting and perfect delivery. Yes, this movie is outlandish and silly, but it's also funny, likeable, and makes a point which most movies don't bother with these days. I'd call this worth watching!