Ricky Stanicky is, simply put, a comedy bit that has gone too far. A group of friends use Ricky’s name to get out of doing things they don’t want to do, as they have done since childhood. It's worked well into adulthood, until they must finally introduce the fictional Ricky to their loved ones after suspicions arise. Considering that this movie has been in some form of development for many years at this point, and given the modern landscape of social media, I was interested to see how Peter Farrelly might be able to pull off this story.

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Well, he didn’t. You’re telling me nobody has ever ever investigated the validity of this person that the main characters use to escape any situation? I know it’s just a silly “comedy”, but the premise holds absolutely no water. There’s no excuse to write empty jokes with no backbone of a valid story behind it. 

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Airy plot aside, I thought for sure some witty dialogue might keep my ears perked. Sadly, the jokes fall so flat throughout that I was just waiting for it to be over. This could have possibly worked back in the teen comedy era of the 2000s when it was originally conceptualized, but in a modern climate, I’m just not buying it.

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That’s not to say there isn’t an audience for this movie! I just think that most general audiences have grown out of this type of comedy. If you like John Cena as an actor and over-the-top buddy comedies, you might enjoy this latest offering from one of the prodigal Farrelly brothers. But if you’ve outgrown the Dumb and Dumber era of raunchy comedy that feels more hollow than nostalgic these days, you can safely pass.