‘The Shitheads’ Review: Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr. are Losers on a Mission in a Broad Comedy Tinged with Viciousness

There’s an instance of unforeseen violence a third of the way into “The Shitheads,” Macon Blair’s latest blood-soaked tragicomedy, that could almost lose the audience given the starkness of the tonal shift. A well-timed deadpan line delivery brings the mood back to laughter, but the back-and-forth between the two modes will become more pronounced as the plot collects complications along the treacherous way.

Up to that point, this road movie involving two down-on-their-luck screw-ups hired to drive a rich teenager to rehab feels reminiscent of the bromantic, drug-laced, gross-out comedies of the 2000s and early 2010s, some of which starred James Franco. His still bankable younger brother, Dave, stars here as Mark, a foul-mouthed loser who thinks too much of himself while actively hitting rock bottom. The other half of this amateurish operation, Davis (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), is a devout Christian whose search for validation costs him a job tied to his faith.