“Ricky Stanicky” follows three friends who created the imaginary Ricky Stanicky as an alibi for their immature behavior as kids. When others get suspicious of his existence, they hire an actor to bring the character to life.

The star of the show here is John Cena. He steals the spotlight in each scene that he is in, truly transforming into the character. It was nice to see him legitimately be the highlight of the movie. Zac Efron also delivers a solid performance, alongside Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler.

While the Ricky Stanicky fabrication is hilarious and absurd, it also makes the main characters slightly unlikable. There’s obviously some growth that they go through during the film, but it’s hard to really be on their side at times due to their dishonest nature.

The final act somewhat moves away from the comedy to further explore each of the characters, and that is where the film falters. It attempts to tie everything together for a more serious finish that delivers life lessons, but it ends up dragging on. This plot-line didn’t warrant a nearly two-hour runtime — it probably should have been closer to 90 minutes.

The key to whether or not you enjoy “Ricky Stanicky” is your style of humor. The comedy here is completely immature. Idiotic jokes and ridiculous scenarios can often earn a laugh out of me, but if that’s not the case for you, then this probably won’t be your cup of tea.

“Ricky Stanicky” is no masterpiece, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s dumb comedy, and it successfully delivers in that regard.

Rating: 3 out of 5