Except for love, death and identity, one of the most common themes to find in fiction is that of friendship. Whether looking at the mere platonic companionships between individuals or those that become something more, literature tends to emphasize the importance of connections between individuals, particularly in the joy that comes in finding a kindred spirit with whom your time feels well-spent and meaningful. These themes were perfectly encapsulated in Ricky Stanicky, which was conceived as an idea over a decade ago but took quite a while to come to the screen, and it was only when Peter Farrelly chose to board the project that his very ambitious idea managed to come to fruition. The film tells the story of a trio of childhood friends who have kept a secret from the rest of the world for years: they fabricated the existence of a fourth friend, named Ricky Stanicky, a fictional and imaginary companion who is used solely to bail them out of precarious situations. However, they soon learn that they cannot merely rely on the concept of Ricky Stanicky anymore and that they need to find a way to make him tangible, which coincides with their introduction to an eccentric performer who is hired to play the role but comes to show he’s far more serious about his career than initially expected, leading to an endless cavalcade of chaotic situations as “Ricky” integrates himself into the lives of these friends. Hilarious irreverent, and oddly quite moving, Ricky Stanicky is a surprisingly tremendous film, one that takes some bold risks and emerges triumphant, becoming one of the best comedies of the year for numerous unexpected reasons.

Over the last few years, the previously well-liked pairing of Peter and Bobby Farrelly seemingly fell away as the two filmmakers decided to pursue separate opportunities. With his solo efforts Green Book and The Greatest Beer Run on Earth, it seemed like Peter Farrelly was trying to take on more serious work, with Bobby Farrelly’s Champions (a solid film, regardless of its lightweight subject matter) leading us to believe he was the one who spearheaded most of the duo’s more comedic efforts. Mercifully, Peter Farrelly’s decision to helm Ricky Stanicky proves that he hasn’t lost his comedic touch and that while he will very likely continue to make more serious-minded films, he is not entirely against doing a broader comedy, which turns out to be one of his best since the peak of their directorial career in the 1990s, when they did their most influential work. This film consists of jokes nearly every minute, with the first act of Ricky Stanicky being a neverending stream of wisecracks and sight gags, some of the best Farrelly has ever produced, proving to be surprisingly much deeper than we would imagine. Without question, this film works best when it is allowed to be simply outrageous, never needing to pay attention to the details until the end when everything needs to be tied together. Some cracks begin to form towards the end, especially since this is a film that is longer than it ought to have been, but when it comes to delivering the jokes, the film is an absolute masterclass in setting up a simple premise that takes some time to construct, but which has several moments in which the effort pays off, especially in the first portion where chaos reigns and we are witness to some of the most delightfully perverse and potentially controversial humour imaginable, delivered in quite a casual and endearing manner, which is one of the most appealing aspects of this film as a whole.

One of the great surprises in this film is that it pays attention to the cast and makes sure to create three-dimensional, complex characters – part of this comes from the fact that Farrelly has been trying to make more serious films, rather than those that depend on archetypes. The result is that the three central protagonists of the film, portrayed by Zac Efron, Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler, are more complex than we would initially imagine. Fowler doesn’t have much development and is probably the weakest of the trio, but Efron proves himself to be as charismatic as ever, and while Santino is more of the straight man, he still brings depth to the film, being its emotional core in many ways. However, Ricky Stanicky is anchored almost entirely by John Cena, who delivers his best performance yet – and while some may think that isn’t a particularly high bar to clear, he’s proven himself to be a comedic force of nature, and no longer is his acting based on the novelty of having him play these parts, but rather highlighting his impeccable comedic skills and surprisingly charismatic screen presence. For every flaw in this film (of which there are a few, which we’ll discuss momentarily), Cena is not responsible for any of them. Instead, he delivers one of the most unexpectedly brilliant, committed comedic performances of the decade so far, which is especially notable considering this is a film where it is clear that Cena is in on the joke, rather than simply being a novelty, as was often the case in the past. His impeccable comedic skills and genuine sense of magnetism are wonderful and serve to be the element that makes this film such a success, to the point where even its lacklustre finale, which had to draw our attention back to a more serious topic, is made far better because of Cena’s terrific performance. It’s not particularly complex work in theory, but the rapid-fire tone of the film, in addition to its sometimes edgy humour, could not have been easy for someone who hasn’t always had the chance to showcase his performance skills – and he emerges triumphant, delivering what may become his signature role, and one that we can only hope he returns to in some way in the future.

However, while the first two acts of Ricky Stanicky are nearly pitch-perfect in terms of the collision of comedy and chaos, it, unfortunately, does falter slightly towards the end, likely a result of the film running too long, bordering on two hours and therefore having slightly too much loaded into the final act. One of the traits that this film adds that we didn’t see in previous Farrelly films (in particular those produced during the more broadly comedic era of his career) was the belief that a comedy without a message is only halfway complete, a complete fallacy that threatens to derail this film towards the end, or at least make the more subversive elements introduced earlier in the film seem less sharp and cynical. Understandably, Ricky Stanicky was not designed to be some provocative and boundary-pushing satire, but rather a comedy that relies on dumb humour and slapstick jokes, which is very successful. It’s when Farrelly feels impelled to highlight the very obvious theme of friendship being the most important aspect of these characters’ lives that we begin to feel like we’re having very simple ideas fed to us directly, rather than being able to realize these obvious facts on our own. Not every comedy needs to have a message, and the latter portions of the film, which are still rich with comedic detail, do tend to drag when it comes to the heavy-handed portions of the story. It’s not nearly enough to invalidate the promising elements, but it does a numb and otherwise daring film that didn’t need to have the neatest ending and could have justified getting away with something slightly more subversive, rather than hammering in ideas that are not only obvious to anyone watching the film, but not nearly interesting enough to take up space in a film that is at its best when it is allowed be deeply bizarre and borderline satirical.

Ricky Stanicky proves to be a return to form for Farrelly, who shows that despite attempts to be taken more seriously, his most effective work will always be the films that allow him to draw on his masterful understanding of broad humour – there is a reason why the Farrelly Brothers, as divisive as they may have become towards the end, were viewed as some of the most consistent filmmakers in the genre while at their peak. This film contains several of the best traits their work has to offer, and even as a solo outing, the spirit of their wonderfully vulgar sensibilities is present in nearly every moment, which may be frustrating to those who don’t appreciate this style of humour, but will appeal even more to those who realize that broad comedy, while sometimes lowbrow and shocking for inexplicable reasons, can also be intelligent when crafted properly, which is all part of what makes a film like Ricky Stanicky feel so much more engaging than lesser efforts. Ultimately, your enjoyment of this film is going to depend primarily on how much you are willing to leap into the wavelength of whatever it was Cena was doing here, and mercifully it is clear from his first appearance in the film what his performance will entail, which will be a good litmus test to see if what he is doing works for the individual viewer. He’s the star of the film, and his comedic prowess has never been stronger, he’s tremendous enough to be worth the price of admission alone, and warrants sitting through some of the less effective moments where there is an attempt to deepen a narrative that would have been better served being less intent on delivering a message. Not a film that will redefine comedy as a genre or shatter any expectations, Ricky Stanicky is still a wickedly entertaining comedy with great performances, a terrific concept and the willingness to challenge conventions in remarkably funny ways, even if it does start to fall apart towards the end. At the very least, the comedic tour-de-force central to the film will be more than enough to hold our attention, elevating a very simple but effective comedy that is much better than it ought to have been based on a cursory glance.