Jun 18, 2016
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This movie was better than I expected it to be. With Ferrell as a producer on the film, I thought that this film was doomed from its inception. Many films commandeered by comedians such as Jack and Jill-Produced by Adam Sandler, The Love Guru-Produced by Mike Meyers, and Pink Panther- Screenplay by Steve Martin demonstrate that comedic actors should stick to one side of the camera rather than two. And so I went into the cinema with low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised by not only the humour of the film, but its cinematic quality. Let's talk about the humour because that's one of the main aspects of this film with its comedian co-stars. For a family movie, I feel as though the humour was too sexual at times, especially coming from Wahlberg's character. Even though some of it was indirect and would have flown over young audience's heads, some of it is blatant and mixed in with a couple curse words, makes the humour a little inappropriate. But I guess that's what makes this film's humour good; there's something for everyone, hence, it's a family movie. There's also plenty of one-liners, slapstick, and general comedic acting that all audiences can relate to and enjoy. I didn't find it to be cheesy American humour resorting to toilet jokes or plain immaturity. I had a fair amount of 'laugh out loud' moments in this movie.
I can't say that they've stumbled upon anything new with the sequence of events though; the whole layout screams cliche. A little ironic since every time you guessed what was going to happen next according to what cliche demands, a very different and more realistic reality will occur and Will Ferrell's character will step in and comment on how he (representing the audience) expected that event to turn out. A little gem of humour which I thought was worth mentioning. But that little sad bit in the movie (you all know what I'm talking about) really appealed to my sense of sympathy and pulled at the heartstrings. The plot never lost sight of what direction it was travelling in and there was no shortage of entertainment at the relentless battle between the two dads. A couple times it felt a little tedious but not too much, and the climax was, well, really non existent. I could see the climatic events they were trying to achieve but unfortunately the stakes just weren't that high and it wasn't that exciting for anyone to be on the edge of their seats. Another unworthy mention is the CGI used on two occasions in this movie to enhance the slapstick. And although these moments were funny, the CGI looked like a cartoon.
The final stand-out element I want to mention is the epilogue. Without mentioning spoilers, the way that it's executed was highly entertaining and fulfilling to the storyline. It even had a cameo by WWE Wrestler John Cena, and you'll see why that's necessary upon viewing the film. Needless to say, it's a very clever twist.
The cast was fairly limited with a few others as it focussed on a singular family. Of course we have the dynamic duo Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell, Linda Cardellini, Hannibal Buress as clingy sarcastic plumber Griff, Thomas Haden Church as Brad's social-commentator-esque boss Leo (who by the way suits this role perfectly), and Scarlett Estevez and Owen Vaccaro as children Megan and Dylan. Wahlberg, Ferrell, and Haden Church were the standouts due to their comedic value for me. I loved Wahlberg as the cunning, boastful, and sarcastic bad-ass father, and Ferrell as the naive, loving, and suddenly impulsive jealous step dad. All our characters had enough back story and character development to pass as thorough in a family comedy and there wasn't any underdone characters, except for Griff the plumber who always just seems to be 'there'.
Like any family movie should have, Daddy's Home also had themes and morals to it. The importance of children and the wider family above anything else is central, but other little messages could include responsibility, loyalty, love, and perseverance. Genres include comedy, family, and romance.
To conclude, I really enjoyed Daddy's Home. It exceeded all my expectations and is probably one of the best if not the best family or comedian-comendeered movie I have ever seen. Sure there were imperfections, but this one was about the comedy, and that was perfect. Well done Ferrell, well done.
Verified