It’s always a little puzzling when the most random movies become a success on streaming. In most cases, they didn’t do big business in theaters, or were a modest success but ultimately forgotten because they didn’t leave a lasting impression. The latest random movie to find success on streaming is the 2016 comedy Why Him?, which stars James Franco, who was one of the biggest actors of his generation until he was ostracized following a series of sexual misconduct allegations. Franco isn’t experiencing a resurgence right now, so why would a comedy from 2016 be seeing a renewed interest on Hulu? As it turns out, it might be because of a cameo from a certain tech-billionaire who is now very active in American politics.
Why Him? focuses on a father, played by Bryan Cranston, who will stop at nothing to prevent his daughter’s boyfriend Laird Mayhew (Franco), an immature tech millionaire, from asking her to marry him. Because of the character’s connection to the tech world, the film features a variety of cameos from real-life tech figures and other celebs, including Burnie Burns, Steve Aoki, Richard Blais, and Toby Turner. One of the bigger cameos comes from Elon Musk, which may not have been a big deal a few years ago, but is even more relevant now considering Musk’s acquisition of Twitter (now X) and his involvement in helping Donald Trump get re-elected.
Since Musk’s name is in the news a lot lately, the cameo and the film are likely gaining more attention. One Letterboxd user gave everyone a heads-up before watching, with Jessiqua stating, “Trigger warning Elon Musk.”kpeterson813 wrote, “The Elon Musk jump scare was just too much,” followed by a pair of thumbs-down emojis. Letterboxd user K8rly also gave their two cents by saying, “Elon Musk looks like a slightly too-warm wax figure and I did not like that he was in this movie.”Nao wrote, “turned this off as soon as elon musk made an appearance.” User reelasp had a more positive review, but still docked points for the Musk cameo: “Minus half a star for elon musk jumpscare. Otherwise, this was the perfect Christmas family shenanigans movie! LOL.” Several recent reviews refer to the Musk cameo as a jump scare, which seems about right.
User kar had a less enjoyable experience, writing:
“My lovely bf (bless his soul) chose this as a movie for us to turn off our brains and poke fun at but instead of giggling through it , we instead were assaulted by an elon musk cameo and remained silent aside from a few sighs before we turned it off with 40 minutes left . Thinking about this movie makes me viscerally angry, i hate you james franco.”
More recent reviews can be found mentioning him on Letterboxd, and, if you’re curious, you can check out his cameo below.
Elon Musk Is No Stranger To Making Movie Cameos
This isn’t the first time that Musk has made a cameo in a film. He also appeared briefly in 2010’s Iron Man 2, another appearance that made sense given Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) connection to the tech world in the film. Don’t be surprised if that Marvel sequel starts seeing a surge in views given the latest news about the wealthy businessman. It was recently announced that Musk was appointed by Trump to be the head of the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy. Makes perfect sense given the fact that Musk was Trump’s second-largest donor for his Presidential campaign.
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As for Why Him?, the film received largely negative reviews upon release, registering a 39 percent rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a consensus that reads, “Solidly cast but overall misconceived, Why Him? offers the odd chuckle, but it ultimately adds disappointingly little to its tired father-vs-fiance formula.” Despite the relatively muted response from critics, Why Him? wasn’t a total box office misfire, grossing $60.3 million domestically and $118.1 million worldwide on a $52 million budget.
If you want to join in on the Letterboxd fun, Why Him? is streaming on Hulu.
- Release Date
- December 22, 2016