Why Him?



Why Him? is a 2016 American romantic comedy film directed by John Hamburg, written by Hamburg and Ian Helfer, and starring James Franco, Bryan Cranston, Zoey Deutch, Megan Mullally, Griffin Gluck and Keegan-Michael Key. The film follows a father who is horrified by his daughter's new boyfriend, an unconventional Silicon Valley entrepreneur.

The film premiered in Los Angeles on December 17, 2016 and was released in the United States on December 23, 2016, by 20th Century Fox. It received generally negative reviews and has grossed $51 million worldwide.

Plot
Over the holidays, Ned Fleming (Bryan Cranston) and his wife Barb (Megan Mullaly), along with their 15-year-old son Scotty (Griffin Gluck), travel from Grand Rapids, Michigan to visit their oldest daughter Stephanie (Zoey Deutch), who is studying at Stanford University. While there, they are introduced to Stephanie's famous and wealthy billionaire boyfriend, Laird Mayhew (James Franco). Laird's vulgar, gregarious, and blunt personality is slightly arousing for Barb and Scott, but causes Ned to downright despise him. Stephanie insists that he is a nice person, and that he makes her happy. But when Laird reveals to Ned he plans to propose to Stephanie in only five days, the race to prove himself worthy of her love so Ned can give them his blessing begins. Laird goes out of his way to win over Barb and Scott, while Ned schemes to make sure Laird goes down in flames.

Cast

 * James Franco as Laird Mayhew, Stephanie's boyfriend
 * Bryan Cranston as Ned Fleming, Stephanie's father and Barb's husband
 * Zoey Deutch as Stephanie Fleming, Laird's girlfriend, Ned and Barb's daughter, and Scotty's older sister
 * Megan Mullally as Barb Fleming, Ned's wife and Stephanie's mother
 * Griffin Gluck as Scotty Fleming, Stephanie's 15-year old younger brother and Ned and Barb's son
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Gustav, Laird’s best friend, calmer assistant and trainer, the billionaire's European-hailing estate manager
 * Cedric the Entertainer as Lou Dunne, Ned’s friend
 * Kaley Cuoco as the voice of Justine, Laird's in-home artificial intelligence
 * Zack Pearlman as Kevin Dingle, Ned’s I.T. guy
 * Jee Young Han as Marnie Dingle, Kevin’s mother
 * Grace Ly Ngo Hazelett and Sadie Kate Ngo Hazelett as Vanessa Dingle, Kevin’s sister
 * Casey Wilson as Missy Pederman, the first creator of an online invitation company called StampFree Invites.
 * Andrew Rannells as Blaine Pederman, the second creator of an online invitation company called StampFree Invites.
 * Adam DeVine as Tyson Modell, the creator of the wildly popular Ghostchat app.
 * Tangie Ambrose as Patty Dunne, Lou’s wife and Barb’s friend
 * Steve Bannos as Tree Lot Owner Burt

There are cameos by a number of technology, gaming, and entertainment figures, including Burnie Burns, Steve Aoki, Richard Blais, Elon Musk, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, and Chris A. Liscomb.

Production
On November 18, 2014, it was announced that John Hamburg and Ian Helfer were co-writing a comedy film, Why Him?, for 20th Century Fox. On February 27, 2015, James Franco was in talks to star in the film, playing a young billionaire. Shawn Levy's 21 Laps Entertainment and Ben Stiller's Red Hour Productions were set to produce the film, about a Midwestern father who travels with his family to visit his daughter at college, and finds himself disliking her new billionaire boyfriend. On August 25, 2015, Bryan Cranston was set to star in the film, playing the father. In August 2015, the film was selected by the California Film Commission to receive $5.4 million in tax credits. On December 8, 2015, Zoey Deutch was cast in the film's female lead role, as Cranston's character's daughter and the billionaire's girlfriend. On January 12, 2016, Griffin Gluck was added to the cast of the film to play Scotty Fleming, the son of Cranston's character. On January 13, 2016, Megan Mullally joined the film to play Barb Fleming, the wife of Ned (Cranston). On January 19, 2016, Keegan-Michael Key was cast as the billionaire's European-hailing estate manager, and following him, Zack Pearlman also signed on for a role in the film. Musician Steve Aoki was also set to appear in the film, as confirmed through his Twitter account.

Principal photography on the film began in mid-February 2016 in Los Angeles.

Release
Why Him? was released on December 23, 2016, by 20th Century Fox. It was originally planned for a November 11, 2016, release date.

Box office
, Why Him? has grossed $37.6 million in the United States and Canada and $14.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $51.9 million, against a production budget of $38 million.

Why Him? was expected to gross $10–14 million from 2,917 theaters over its first four days of release. It grossed $3.9 million on its first day and $11 million during its opening weekend (a four-day total of $15.5 million), finishing 4th at the box office.

Critical response
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 40% based on 113 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Solidly cast but overall misconceived, Why Him? offers the odd chuckle, but ultimately adds disappointingly little to its tired father-vs.-fiancé formula." Metacritic gives the film a score of 38 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.