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    Daddy's Home

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    I got stuck watching “Daddy’s Home” and unfortunately for me, it turned out exactly as I predicted it would be. It’s a comedy that depends entirely on the impossible happening and on the principal character being so stupid that he will go along with anything.

    Brad (Will Ferrell) is the stepfather to Sara’s (Linda Cardellini) two children, Megan (Scarlett Estevez) and Dylan (Owen Vaccaro) He’s spineless but months of perseverance have finally paid off and he feels like he’s part of the family. When Sara’s ex Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) comes in for a visit, Brad’s status as the man of the house is challenged.

    I’ll give the picture credit that it was a good idea to pit Mark Whalberg and Will Ferrell against each other. Together on-screen, they’re good. It makes me want to check out their previous collaboration, “The Other Guys”. Despite myself, I also found that some of the manufactured sentimentality towards the end of the picture also struck a cord. Maybe it’s something about little children that I just can’t resist; even when just 89 minutes prior they were demons so voracious it made me want to tear my face off.

    This film is set in a fantasy world. It has to be, because the people in this family, their friends and co-workers behave like aliens. My biggest gripe is with Brad. He’s so spineless and incompetent that you can’t cheer for him. I’ve never been married, but I’ve been the “replacement dad” for one lady I dated. I had to meet the real father and it was awkward, but you know what? I’m a person with a brain so I my masculine instincts kicked in and I didn’t let the guy walk all over me (particularly when he turned out to be a real dead-beat) There’s no other word for it. Brad sucks. You wonder what anybody likes about him (except that they can push him around) because he’s always powerless and he’ll let anything slide. If I was married to a woman and her ex showed up and asked if he could stay in the garage, I would point him towards a hotel. Anyone would! The guy takes paddling after paddling, always replying with  Spoiler alert - click to reveal text“Thank you sir, may I have another? ” so much that you no longer want him to win over his rival anymore. You know if he does, or if he even manages to break even it will be through manufactured movie nonsense.

    I get it. Without some contrivances, there would be no movie. I decided to give “Daddy’s Home” some slack but it turned out to be a disobedient teenager who riffled through my coat, stole my credit card and went out to buy a gun. It takes it too far. Brad isn’t just a weenie. He’s a flat-out idiot. Some of the stuff he lives through here would mean million-dollar lawsuits in his favour but what does he do? He just takes it. Does he actually care about his family? He says he does but his behaviour is so outlandish that even when he reaches his breaking point and finally takes action, no human being would be able to look at his train of thought and go “oh yeah, that would work”.

    You don’t like Brad because he’s a slug, you don’t care for Dusty because he’s a sleaze ball and you’re not too fond of the family either because they’re easily swayed parasites. That could have been forgiven if the film was funny, but it just isn’t. It simply repeats the same gag over and over. Dusty one-ups his rival, Brad attempts to even the odds and fails. Rinse and repeat while Thomas Haden Church tells dirty stories and a lame racism joke feature Hannibal Buress get reiterated. There’s not a lot of imagination here and more often than not, a gag’s consequences will vanish into thin air the second the scene ends.

    I can’t say that I genuinely hated the film, but it’s a disappointment even with the low expectations I brought. There are some big comedic names in this movie, and this is what we get? We deserve better. If you see the trailer to “Daddy’s Home”, you’ll know exactly where it’s headed. You’re smarter than this and with so many legitimately good, Oscar-potentials playing right now, don’t waste your time. (Theatrical version on the big screen, January 9, 2016)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  14.1.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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