Ricky Stanicky (2024)
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Three childhood friends continue to use a fictional person's identity to escape trouble until they hire an actor to impersonate the fake man.
The story
The story follows a group of childhood friends who, after inventing a fictional person named Ricky Stanicky to escape trouble, continue using the fake identity into adulthood. When their families begin to question Ricky's existence, they hire an eccentric actor to impersonate him, resulting in unexpected consequences. The plot begins with the trio using the identity of 'Ricky' to avoid blame for a prank they committed as children. Twenty years later, they still use the persona as a scapegoat for personal and professional obligations, leading to a situation where they must hire a professional actor to maintain the lie when the truth begins to surface.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
As children, Dean, Wes, and JT create the identity of 'Ricky Stanicky' to escape blame for a prank. Twenty years later, they still use the persona to avoid responsibilities. When a family member grows suspicious of Ricky's existence, they hire Rod Rimestead, an eccentric actor, to impersonate him. Rod is hired to attend a baby's bris, where he performs well enough to be offered a job by a businessman. As Rod embraces the identity and legally changes his name, Dean eventually confesses the truth to his partner. However, the truth is revealed to the public during a media segment. Ultimately, the group reconciles, and the friends begin to live honestly while Rod continues his new life as a successful figure. The film ends with the group becoming genuine friends and the characters moving past the lies of the past.
- First release year
- 2024
- Runtime (minutes)
- 114
- Production countries
- Australia; United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Peter Farrelly
- Writers
- Jeff Bushell · screenplay; Brian Jarvis · screenplay; James Lee Freeman · screenplay; Peter Farrelly · screenplay; Pete Jones · screenplay; Mike Cerrone · screenplay; David Occhino · story; Jason Decker · story
- Cast and characters
- Zac Efron; Jermaine Fowler; Andrew Santino; Lex Scott Davis; Anja Savcic; Jeff Ross; William H. Macy; John Cena
- Genres
- comedy; buddy comedy
- Themes
- Identity; Consequences of lying
- Tone and mood
- Comedy; Boorish; Sentimental
- Premise and plot tags
- Buddy Comedy; Imaginary Friends
- Source material / true-story basis
- Original spec script
- Content notes
- Language: English
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for John Cena's performance but criticism of the plot and length. Audience reception was more favorable.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 46% · scale: percentage · review count: 85; Metacritic · score: 44 · scale: 100 · review count: 24
- Production trivia
- The film was originally intended to star James Franco.; The script was on the 2010 Black List.; The marketing included a satirical OnlyFans for the character.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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