Obviously, director Sean Anders and his crew are well-aware
they’re not on the road to creating something akin to Citizen Kane when they
set out to make a movie like Daddy’s Home.  I would imagine that, in addition to having a rip-roaring time when they
show up to work each day, the intent is to make a serviceable piece of
entertainment that will provide the audience with a couple of laughs while they
put their cares aside and escape into the dark of the local multiplex. That being the case, Anders and all involved
have succeeded, delivering a movie that provides steady laughs as well as a
showcase for one of the most unlikely of screen duos – Will Ferrell & Mark
Wahlberg – who are as amusing this time out as they were when first teamed in The Other Guys five years ago.
Brad Whitaker (Ferrell) is the kind of well-meaning, overly
sensitive guy who you just want to smack in the face sometimes. Sure, he has the well being of his new wife
Sara (Linda Cardellini) and her son and daughter (Owen Vacarro & Scarlett
Estevez) at heart but his efforts to ingratiate himself into their lives
borders on suffocation. A few months
into the marriage, the tykes begin to accept him as the reliable guy he wants
to be seen as, just in time for their real dad, presumed special-ops soldier
Dusty Mayron (Wahlberg), to come knocking on their door, intending to win his
family back. It goes without saying that
he’s physically Whitaker’s better but what undoes stepdad is the mind games he
plays on him, getting the poor sap to doubt not only his own strengths but
Sara’s love as well. Â
The premise couldn’t be simpler and the success of the movie
hinges on the situations Anders and co-writer Brian Burns can concoct in order
to see Whitaker brought low by Mayron again and again. For the most part, they
succeed as the number of hilarious moments outweighs those that are D.O.A.,
though not by much. A scene that finds a
drunken Whitaker participating in a shooting contest at a pro basketball game
goes from bad to worse in record time, while a sequence at a Daddy-Daughter
dance that results in fisticuffs between the fathers escalates masterfully
towards not only a humorous payoff but a poignant one as well. Throw in Mayron bringing home a shaggy dog
with a woefully appropriate name and Whitaker staging a Christmas in April
celebration and there are more than enough laughs spread out over the film’s 96
minute running time.
While Ferrell and Wahlberg do most of the heavy lifting, Anders
wisely sprinkles in some veteran comic performers to punch things up now and
again. As Whitaker’s boss Leo Holt, a
man who has an inappropriate story for every occasion, Thomas Haden Church
steals every scene he’s in, as does Bobby Cannavale as a fertility expert with
a lecherous side. Stand-up comics Bill Burr and Hannibal Buress are also on
board and they accomplish what every performer strives for – they leave us
wanting more.
No, Daddy’s Home will likely not be mentioned
as a highlight in any of the obituaries that will be written for those involved
but it is, at times, an inspired little piece of lunacy that reminds us that
not only is parenting the hardest job you’ll ever take on but that even when
your stepdaughter continually draws pictures of you with poop on your head, all
is not lost. Â
This article appears in Dec 24-30, 2015.
