DADDY'S HOME (2015)

Genre: Comedy
Director: Sean Anders, John Morris
Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, Thomas Haden Church, Hannibal Buress, Alessandra Ambrosio, Paul Scheer
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Sexual References)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: http://www.daddyshomemovie.com

Opening Day: 31 December 2015

Synopsis:  “DADDY’S HOME” follows a mild-mannered radio executive (Ferrell) who strives to become the best stepdad to his wife’s two children, but complications ensue when their freewheeling and freeloading real father (Wahlberg) arrives, forcing him to compete for the affection of the kids.

Movie Review:

There’s a gem of a comedy in the form of The Other Guys (2010) starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. The chemistry between the two unlikely leading men is something you have to see to believe. The result is a rip roaring story about two mismatched New York detectives who try very, very hard to be the city’s top cops. Go search for some of the hilarious clips on YouTube. Oh, if you don’t already know, there are also the side splitting cameo appearances by Samuel L Jackson and Dwayne Johnson.

And that is why we were very much looking forward to this second collaboration between Ferrell the funnyman and Wahlberg the muscleman.

Ferrell (The Lego Movie, Get Hard) plays a mild mannered radio host who happens to be a stepfather to a happy family. He tries his best to get his stepchildren to love him and call him Dad. Along comes Wahlberg’s (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Ted 2) tough guy character, who happens to be the kids’ biological father. The laughs begin when he is everything a kid wants in a cool Dad – attractive physique, cool bike, liberal attitude.

Given that this is a family comedy, and that the film producers have box office earnings in mind, you can forget about crude jokes that will keep younger viewers out of the theatres. Hence, you get a nice and decent comedy that doesn’t try to be too clever, hits the spot and ends on a happy note. This isn’t necessary a bad thing in this day and age, where we often get overstuffed comedies (or movies for that matter) which have, in our opinion, are failing to make us laugh.

It sure helps that there is a wholesome message in this 98 minute movie. What being a father means, what being a parent means, and what being there for your kids means are some of the textbook friendly themes which will go down well with the masses.

Fortunately though, jokes are not compromised as you still get a barrel of laughs (knowing Ferrell and the established comedian Adam McKay worked on this production as producers is comforting). Watch out for scenes where Ferrell rides Wahlberg’s bike to disastrous results, where Ferrell tries to impress his kids by skateboarding after Wahlberg builds a cool tree house, and where Ferrell loses it when Ferrell effortlessly clinches the deal for a winning jingle at the radio station. Yup, these are the uncool stepdad versus cool daddy situations.

Then there are supporting roles played by Thomas Haden Church(Easy A, We Bought a Zoo) and Bobby Cannavale (Spy, Ant Man). The former portrays a rambling superior to Ferrell’s character. Watch as he goes on and on about seemingly pointless life lessons. The latter takes on the role as a fertility doctor who has the movie’s best scenes by comparing the differences between good and not so good manhood. The cameo appearance at the end of the movie is also a nice surprise.

For those who love Wahlberg’s bod, he comfortably goes topless for quite a number of scenes in the movie. Oh, and as a bonus, you get to see Ferrell flashing his bod too.  

Movie Rating:

(Will Ferrell and Mark Whalberg's portrayals of Uncool Stepdad versus Cool Daddy drip with comedic chemistry in this comedy that doesn’t try to be unnecessarily clever)

Review by John Li