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| A little session for Ferrell, Wahlberg and Cardellini. |
Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) is married to Sara (Linda Cardellini) and is stepdad to her kids, Dylan and Megan (Owen Vaccaro and Scarlett Estevez). Brad is infertile due to an unfortunate groin radiation. Despite his best intentions to become a father figure to the kids, the kids do not treat him as nicely as expected from their mother. Over time, the kids warm up to Brad as Dylan tells Brad he's been picked on at school and also Megan asking Brad to the father-daughter dance.
However, a mysterious phone call ensues from their biological father, Dusty (Mark Wahlberg), as the kids get overly excited to hear his voice. Sara gets worried as Dusty comes out of nowhere, which initially concerns Brad but he tells her that he can handle Dusty. Brad makes a mistake of trying to pick up a guy who he thinks is Dusty but Dusty is already there with the kids. Dusty truthfully tells Brad that he wants to be a good father figure in their life but promises that Brad can be the new dad. However, their competitive instincts to get the children's respect gets in their way of being a good dad.
I had some low expectations going into this movie because this is sort of a family comedy but with a raunchy background especially in a subplot which involves whether or not Brad can impregnate Sara. However, it is not an awful result. There are laughs but inconsistent laughs. However, the jokes are sporadic and varied that the tone of the humor is all over the joke between the usual innocent jokes that children appreciate and the raunchy humor that teenagers and older adults can laugh or chuckle at. The predictable humor with the family melodrama is the weakness of the film because it yo-yos into different levels of humor.
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are a good duo to be playing off for jokes. In The Other Guys, a movie that I enjoyed, they work together but with some differences and most of the jokes were hilarious. Here, they are against each other and the set-ups of the jokes can be familiar and sometimes, tasteless. The supporting cast is really good with Thomas Haden Church, who is hysterical playing Brad's boss. Hannibal Buress and Bobby Canavale have some small cameos in this but there is one in the end that I cannot give away which is ironic but funny. Linda Cardellini does not get to do much except getting annoyed by their behavior. And, the kid are not as memorable because they are the crux of the plot and deliver some profane dialogue as in another PG-13 movie nowadays.
Director and screenwriter Sean Anders, whose awful movies include Horrible Bosses 2 and Dumb and Dumber To (one of the worst movies of last year), is better in his humorous approach which his dialogue is a lot funnier than the physical gags. He does explore the vulnerabilities of becoming a father and how a male can or cannot handle the job especially in its final 30 minutes, where it redeems the middle portion of the movie. It is not Wahlberg's and Ferrell's best efforts on-screen but it is a mildly amusing movie to watch whenever it is available for rental because the movie has something going for it in terms of its theme and message, but the comedy becomes pale and sporadic.
**1/2
However, a mysterious phone call ensues from their biological father, Dusty (Mark Wahlberg), as the kids get overly excited to hear his voice. Sara gets worried as Dusty comes out of nowhere, which initially concerns Brad but he tells her that he can handle Dusty. Brad makes a mistake of trying to pick up a guy who he thinks is Dusty but Dusty is already there with the kids. Dusty truthfully tells Brad that he wants to be a good father figure in their life but promises that Brad can be the new dad. However, their competitive instincts to get the children's respect gets in their way of being a good dad.
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| Let's try to read him a bedtime story. |
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are a good duo to be playing off for jokes. In The Other Guys, a movie that I enjoyed, they work together but with some differences and most of the jokes were hilarious. Here, they are against each other and the set-ups of the jokes can be familiar and sometimes, tasteless. The supporting cast is really good with Thomas Haden Church, who is hysterical playing Brad's boss. Hannibal Buress and Bobby Canavale have some small cameos in this but there is one in the end that I cannot give away which is ironic but funny. Linda Cardellini does not get to do much except getting annoyed by their behavior. And, the kid are not as memorable because they are the crux of the plot and deliver some profane dialogue as in another PG-13 movie nowadays.
Director and screenwriter Sean Anders, whose awful movies include Horrible Bosses 2 and Dumb and Dumber To (one of the worst movies of last year), is better in his humorous approach which his dialogue is a lot funnier than the physical gags. He does explore the vulnerabilities of becoming a father and how a male can or cannot handle the job especially in its final 30 minutes, where it redeems the middle portion of the movie. It is not Wahlberg's and Ferrell's best efforts on-screen but it is a mildly amusing movie to watch whenever it is available for rental because the movie has something going for it in terms of its theme and message, but the comedy becomes pale and sporadic.
**1/2
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