Basically a kinder, gentler Vince Vaughn movie for people who don’t like Vince Vaughn movies, “Delivery Man’’ trades the abrasive comedian’s trademark snark for schmaltz — an experiment that actually works better than you’d guess.
Vaughn plays a former sperm donor who learns he’s sired 533 children in this close remake of the French-Canadian comedy “Starbuck” (which had a brief US release earlier this year), directed with a great deal more heart than usual for a Vaughn movie by the original writer-helmer, Ken Scott.
The setting has been moved from Montreal to Brooklyn, where Vaughn’s David Wozniak is an irresponsible middle-aged boy who manages to hold onto his job as a deliveryman for a pork store only because it’s a family business.
At first, David is only mildly annoyed when he discovers that the very potent sperm he sold to raise money in the 1990s was overused — and that 142 of his offspring are suing the fertility clinic to reveal his identity.
But David’s curiosity is piqued when his cop girlfriend (the charming but under-used Cobie Smulders from “Marvel’s the Avengers’’) announces she’s pregnant with his child — not that our hero bothers letting her know that it’s his 534th.
When David’s bumbling attorney pal (a very funny Chris Pratt from “Moneyball’’) obtains names and bios of the now-grown progeny who brought suit, David can’t resist checking out what sort of children he’s already produced.
David effectively stalks them while raising remarkably little suspicion — except for one hyper-intellectual son (Adam Chanler-Berat), who blackmails David into letting him move into our hero’s apartment.
The others he gets to know and sometimes help (without spilling his secret) include an aspiring actor (David Reynor), a lifeguard (Amos VanderPoel) and an African-American spa technician (Jessica Williams).
More problematically for the movie, David bonds with a heroin-addict daughter (Britt Robertson), whom he instantly cures — and a severely disabled, institutionalized son (Sebastian Rene, the sole holdover from the original “Starbuck’’ cast).
A subplot about Russian gangsters to whom David owes a gambling debt is nothing to write home about, either.
Vaughn is probably the Hollywood actor you’d least expect to end up in a group hug or manning the grill at a mass outing , but he’s surprisingly effective showing his softer side after a string of crass comedies like “The Watch’’ and “The Internship.’’
And noted Polish actor Andrzej Blumenfield is a standout as David’s immigrant dad in one of the year’s best-cast movies.
“Delivery Man,’’ which features some nice location shooting in New York, sometimes goes overboard with the sentiment (“You’re all brothers and sisters! And you’ve found each other!’’ David exhorts the 142 at one point).
There are too many montages, a Jay Leno montage (a cliché decades ago) and plot holes you could drive a truck through.
But there are a lot of talented young faces, and its heart is basically in the right place. You could do far worse for holiday entertainment.