Working with Robert de Niro and Zac Efron: interview with writer John M. Phillips

I think we basically set out to make an outrageous R rated comedy with heart like Bridesmaids or Neighbors, only it also had Robert De Niro in it. So that's the big difference. Robert fu***ng De Niro! I also think the film is unapologetic about its "offensive" themes at a cultural moment when everyone is so fucking terrified of offending anyone. LIke, yeah. De Niro's character can be a bit racist and homophobic. But c'mon, he's a 70 year old white dude! That's just what a lot of those guys are like and I'm going to write that character honestly. If it offends you, tough shit. That guy fucking exists whether you like it or not. So much of the fun of the movie though is watching him hanging out with these diverse college kids and realizing it's wrong to be racist, homophobic, etc. De Niro gets his ass woke! So he buys a lot of it back at the end and you see he's not a bad guy at all. So basically he goes from being a Donald Trump supporter to a Bernie Sanders supporter. Well, maybe not that far. Hillary Clinton maybe.