Ricky Stanicky Ending Explained: How does the John Cena character turn his life around? Details explored

Directed by Peter Farrelly, Ricky Stanicky proved to be a fun time that saw John Cena and Zac Efron turn up the comedy to an 11. Focusing on a group of friends that hire an actor to portray a friend that they never had, it had an intriguing plot and a surprisingly heartfelt ending that focuses on discovering oneself.

The ending for Ricky Stanicky had many things go down. It's a sweet ending that wraps up a lot pretty nicely bringing a closure to the plotlines set up throughout the film. Not to mention, it also gives John Cena a unique role to star in which the actor completely nails, and overall it's just a very fun time.

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Ricky Stanicky ends up getting his happy ending

The setup for Ricky Stanicky is quite intriguing. To convince others that their fake friend was real all this time, the trio of Dean (Zack Efron), Wes (Jermaine Fowler), and JT (Andrew Santino), hire an actor named Rod (John Cena) so that he can act as their childhood friend Ricky who used to get into all sorts of trouble as a child but shifted to humanitarian work in his adult life.

Rod himself on the other hand was an actor severely down on his luck, however, everything changes when he meets the trio. He also ends up getting a job with their boss Summerhayes, with Rod/Ricky impressing with his business plan. Unfortunately, things start going bad for Dean when he realizes that once the truth about Ricky comes out, it will cost him his job and the relationship with his girlfriend as well.

When Dean's girlfriend, Erin - who is a journalist - decides to run an inspirational story about Ricky Stanicky, Dean decides to tell her the truth which she has figured out. She breaks up with him, but the story is scheduled to go live in front of Summerhayes and Dean accepts his fate and reveals the truth behind "Ricky" to everyone.

Rod's deception turns into an inspiring story as he expresses gratitude to his three buddies for improving his life during a period of low morale. Additionally, he views Summerhayes as a moral businessman, which encourages investors to support his venture.

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How do the trio get out of their mess?

While Summerhayes originally ends up firing Dean following the revelation, he keeps him on. Erin also reveals to Dean that it would be hard to forgive him, but she certainly would like to try and JT also gets along well with his wife who was originally angry with him. The inspirational story paints everyone in a good light, and even Wes decides to shift careers, embrace his true passion, and fulfill his artistic ambitions.

Rod on the other hand, who has legally changed his name to Ricky, reveals to the trio that he is now engaged to Carly and is set to be married to her as well. Striking up a romance, the couple decide to help out, and Rod reveals that he is finally in a better place in life than how he started at the start of the film.

Everything wraps up quite well in the world of Ricky Stanicky, and all the plotlines are concluded in a heartfelt way that truly does subvert expectations. Ricky Stanicky is streaming on Amazon Prime Video right now.