Once again, Vince Vaughn stole my heart with his latest flick, Delivery Man. Several years ago, I
publicly confessed I had never been a fan of his until he won me over in The Dilemma. I am convinced he is a
genius of an actor who has more than comedy up his acting sleeve. I wouldn’t be
surprised if we see him in character dramas as he matures—just a prediction. And
in addition to his acting chops, he is a great screenwriter (The Internship).
Delivery Man is another one of those movies that I breezed past on the Redbox
list, thinking it was nothing but banal froth. The subject matter is a little
dicey for Christians, but it does make for an interesting storyline. Basically,
it is about a down-and-out delivery man, David (Vaughn), who works for his
father’s NY deli, struggling to pay off his debts to the local loan shark. He
can’t seem to do anything right, including deliver the deli meat on time or
fulfill his commitment to his pregnant girlfriend, Emma (Cobie Smulders), who is
convinced he will make a horrible father. Just when things can’t seem to get
any worse, David is visited by a representative from a sperm bank who informs
him that his generous donations years ago were inadvertently used to father
over five hundred children! And as can only happen in Hollywood, 150 of those
children wish to legally set aside a confidentiality agreement to discover his
identity. Wow! Call that a crisis!
At first, David shuns the idea of being found out but eventually
warms to the idea of discovering who his “kids” are. This is where the hilarity
begins. Ignoring the warnings from his attorney friend, Brett (Chris Pratt), David
gives in to the temptation to peek inside a mysterious manila envelope that
reveals the identity of his biological children. As is every father’s dream,
the first kid is an NBA basketball star which sends David and Brett straight to
a basketball game to cheer on his son. Thinking this newfound fatherhood might
be fun, David pulls out another sheet from the envelope and discovers that life
as a parent isn’t always as glorious as basking in the glow of a celebrity
child. Some of the children are hooked on drugs, some struggling to jump start a
career, some struggling with bullying and abandonment, and others just wanting
to be loved.
Soon, David papers his living room wall with the identities of all
of his kids and sets out to be a father to them. Shirking his responsibilities
at the deli and time with Emma, he spends all of his free time playing a superhero
father-figure. For example, he rescues one daughter from a drug overdose,
stands in for a son’s coffee shop shift so that he can attend an acting
audition, encourages another son who is a street musician struggling to make
ends meet—and my favorite—attends his nerd son’s boring tour guides of
historical sites. Oh, and one more—loves on a lonely son who lives in an
institution due to mental and physical challenges. While Emma and his family
are convinced David is an irresponsible loser, these 150 young people are being
blessed with the loving kindness of stranger who they do not realize is their
biological father.
The drama increases when
the kids come together and launch a high-profile court hearing to pressure the
sperm bank to reveal David’s true identity. David employs Brett as his attorney
who vows to help keep his name a secret, referring to him as “Starbuck.” But by
then, David’s love for his kids has taken hold of his heart, and he can’t
resist being a part of their lives. He surreptitiously attends one of their
group meetings and has to do some serious Vince Vaughn tap dancing to explain
how and why he knows so many of them. Nobody puts two and two together until a
conversation between David and Brett is overheard by one of the sons, and the
cat is out of the bag. From this point on, David does his best to keep his
identity a secret for as long as possible, which only makes him appear more
irresponsible to Emma and his family. The story builds to a climax between the
loan sharks demanding their money, the world discovering the true identity of
Starbuck, and Emma giving birth to their baby. It was all very well done!
** SPOILER ALERT **
There were a couple of very tender scenes I’d like to mention.
First, there was a very heart-felt conversation between Emma and David early on
in the pregnancy, where he convinces her to NOT have an abortion. Even though
they got pregnant out of wedlock, a great case was made to bask in the joy of
life with a child instead of succumbing to the fear of being a bad parent.
Also, there was a nice dinner table scene where Emma learns from David’s family
that David is a hopeless romantic, and then finally a very touching scene with his
father toward the end of the movie. In this scene, David learns that his dad
used his life savings to pay off the loan sharks and his dad learns that David
is actually Starbuck. It was very moving—repentance and forgiveness on both
sides and an acknowledgement from David’s father that David isn't a loser, that his efforts to be a good father have touched countless lives and that people love him. A real clincher of a scene! Isn’t that the most wonderful thing
any of us would want for our children – that wherever they go in life, they treat others with love and, in turn, are loved?
