When Delivery Man was announced as an "American" remake of Starbuck, my voice was among many who felt the remake wouldn't be as funny as the original.
Yes, Delivery Man was being written by Ken Scott, who co-wrote the original screenplay for Starbuck with Martin Petit. Vince Vaughn has Canadian roots and Colby Smulders is an actual Canadian. But did Delivery Man come close to delivering the laughs?
The two films are eerily similar: if you've seen Starbuck, you know everything that will happen in Delivery Man. There are minor subtle differences, but the essential story in the same order makes up both films.
The major difference between the two films is that basketball replaces soccer, and Brooklyn replaces Montréal in the U.S. version. One of the children in Delivery Man plays for the New York Knicks, a huge step up from the soccer stadium in Starbuck.
The sports scenes are funnier with soccer than basketball. Not a commentary about the sports themselves, but the basketball theme feels a bit more forced.
Starbuck was based on a Canadian bull by the same name who sired more than 200,000 offspring. To Scott's credit, the American David Wozniak gave his sperm donations under the name Starbuck. However, 99.999% of the U.S. audience has no idea who Starbuck was and why Wozniak offered up that name.
In one outdoor scene, a Starbucks outlet is in the background. That is no coincidence. But Starbucks has nothing to do with Starbuck.
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Vaughn portrays a nicer and cleaner version of David Wozniak. He does come across as a bit rigid in scenes, but overall, did a good job. Smulders plays a softer version of the girlfriend. As much as I like Smulders, she feels a little young for the role. The character is a little jaded, especially toward Wozniak, and she doesn't have that kind of life experience.
The portrayals by the rest of the cast ring truer to the original. This might not be fair since the pressure of the film is on the leads, along with Chris Pratt. For his effort, Pratt did a nice job as the lawyer/friend, though not as funny as the original.
You see smaller differences: the strung out girl works at Bloomingdale's in Delivery Man but seemingly has an office job in Starbuck. She pleads that she has a really good job waiting in both films. An office job is more plausible than a gig at Bloomingdale's.
In the coffee shop scene, the U.S. version gets flooded with guests, not so in the Quebecois version. The street musician is outside in the U.S. version, inside in the Quebecois version.
One sign of Wozniak's naivety in the U.S. version was importing Cuban cigars. Obviously that isn't an issue in Quebec since you can bring in Cuban cigars into Canada.
I also noticed a Canadian flag as they walk into the arena at Madison Square Garden.
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The U.S. version keeps referring back to 693 donations with 533 children and 142 children wanting to meet him. The last two numbers figure prominently in the original, but only mentioned briefly in Starbuck.
The U.S. version has relative unknowns (outside the two leads) with a few exceptions. Bobby Moynihan of Saturday Night Live plays one of the Wozniak brothers. Jessica Williams from The Daily Show plays one of the children. Jay Leno and Bill Maher play themselves delivering late-night TV show jokes about Starbuck.
Other than Patrick Huard, who plays the original David Wozniak, none of the other actors were familiar.
If you see only Delivery Man, you will enjoy the film. The spirit of the story carries through. Ken Scott is a talented filmmaker, and has managed to guide the original screenplay into a story that Americans will embrace.
If you get a chance to see both films, Starbuck strikes a tone that is more realistic and warmer than the remake.
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