When does a good lie go bad? Well, if you’re Zac Efron or either of his friends from the upcoming movie Ricky Stanicky, it turns out that shelf life is about 25 years, give or take. What was once a little white lie becomes a massive deal, which leads the lads to hire John Cena to help sell this mistruth. And while this looks hysterical and all, I’m hoping there’s at least one wrestling gag between these two gents in the offing.
It’s a lot to keep up with when you take it all in at once, and that’s exactly what this Amazon MGM Studios movie is trying to tell anyone who is even remotely interested in such a scam. The basic gist is as follows: young friends Dean, JT, and Wes (Zac Efron, Andrew Santino, and Jermaine Fowler) have been using the titular character as an alibi for almost 30 years. But the pressure is really on when their wives and families start to question if the supposedly cancer stricken Ricky is real.
In need of making it all look above board really quick like, the boys hire seedy performer Rock Hard Rod (John Cena). That move is supposed to let this trio sail off home free, making Ricky Stanicky as real as anyone could hope. But, naturally, it’s not that easy; as Rod wants to make a real life for himself…as Ricky.
Of course, this is a scenario partially cooked up by director Peter Farrelly, one of the men behind movies like Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, and Stuck On You. So admittedly, this initial footage could be hiding the really wild stuff for Ricky Stanicky’s March streaming debut. Especially when this project has been hanging out for so long that, initially Jim Carrey was attached to be a part of it in 2013.
In the years that have passed, there’s a chance that much like the white lie that became a big problem, Ricky Stanicky has gotten even wilder and weirder. Which leads to me, someone who’s not a dyed in the wool wrestling fan, needing to see The Iron Claw actor to go head to head with the WWE superstar, in the name of comedy.
I know that both Zac Efron and John Cena can do more than act and/or wrestle; and again, they’re both hysterical dudes. However, that being said, I feel like it’s a waste for these two to not square up for five minutes in the ring of their choosing. While it isn’t exactly Efron’s proposed WWE appearance he’d have loved to had done for The Iron Claw, imagine how many people would be talking about a knock down, drag out comedy fight sequence where it’s Efron v. Cena!
Looking at the project’s previous history, this is a demand unique to this incarnation. The supposed Jim Carrey incarnation saw both James Franco and Joaquin Phoenix mentioned as circling the Rod/Ricky part in earlier reporting. You can almost bet that those Ricky Stanicky variants wouldn’t have done a wrestling gag.
But now that we’ve seen John Cena and Zac Efron matched up in a movie that feels ripe for such a moment, it feels like a moment long overdue. If we can see Cena dressed like Britney Spears circa “…Baby One More Time,” surely all things are possible.
For now, let’s just keep in mind that we’ll all become friends with Ricky Stanicky starting on March 7, only on Prime Video. So if you needed a reason to keep your Prime Video subscription active, you’ve now got this to keep in mind in the coming months.
