Where’s The Other Guys when you need them?
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg join forces once more for a hackneyed comedy with a dismal plot, offering nothing refreshing or hilarious about a fight for attention between a father and step-dad. Then again, expectations should be pretty low to begin with considering this is from the director of That’s My Boy.
Brad (Ferrell) so desperately wants to be the father his step-children never had. He’s mild-mannered, full of optimism, and maybe just a little too sensitive. But, his wife (Linda Cardellini) adores him, though Dylan (Owen Vaccaro) and Megan (Scarlett Estevez) have made things tough on him. Megan’s drawings alone are enough to justify that. Slowly but surely, to Brad’s astonishment, they start to warm up to him. He’s finally managing to fulfill his role as the man of the house. That is until their real dad shows up.
Dusty (Wahlberg) is a nomad biker with a great physique, and about as far from domesticated as you can get – the complete opposite of Brad. As we all know, there’s only enough room for one Alpha Male in the family, so let the games begin. Brad wants to play nice while Dusty is there for blood. Manipulation and mind games are his weapons and Brad takes every blow straight to the chest; thus, leading him to sink down to Dusty’s level resulting with both guys trying to one-up each other. Through these shenanigans, this is where the comedy is supposed to really kick in.
Think again.
Besides a few uncomfortable stories ending with awkward high-fives by Brad’s boss (Thomas Hayden Church) and a drunk basketball scene, Daddy’s Home makes laughs tough to come by. Surprisingly, sincere moments about family and the stress of being a parent pop up towards the end, though it easily goes unnoticed because of the heedless, impassible journey we are forced to take to get there.
The failure of Daddy’s Home to elevate its stars’ chemistry and their comedic gifts is its decisive downfall – mainly because we are fully aware that Ferrell and Wahlberg can induce a deadly japing duo. Here, their talented abilities are lousily misplaced and underutilized. I guess director Sean Anders didn’t get the message.
They are peacocks. You gotta let’em fly!
Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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