Daddy's Home
(2015)Dad vs Step-Dad.
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg (together again after 2010's The Other Guys) compete for the adoration of their children in this comedy. When a loving-but-dweebish step-dad (Ferrell) is confronted by the cool-but-jerkish biological father (Wahlberg) of his partner’s children, a war for ultimate parenthood commences…
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Directed by Sean Anders, John Morris
Starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, Thomas Haden Church, Alessandra Ambrosio, Paul Scheer
Written by Brian Burns
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Daddy's Home
BY Brendo superstar
Director, Sean Anders ( We're the Miller's) has reunited Ferrell and Wahlberg for the first time since their maiden outing together in the goofed up comedy 'The Other Guys'. Surprisingly, that film worked with the most bizarre casting coming together to produce a funny cinematic experience. 'Daddy's Home' has recreated this same experience with plenty of riotous events that will leave you with no choice but to laugh out loud while choking on a handful of popcorn. Brian Burns screenplay is nothing spectacular but it doesn't have to be as Ferrell revels in the moment, producing his trademark idiosyncratic 'fruitcake' performance. The funnyman is constantly on the receiving end of Wahlberg's more mucho act but it sets the scene for some memorable events. Ferrell's films are all to predictable but he does them so well that the fan's keep coming back for more. Marky Mark is proving versatile and doesn't seem to be afraid of creating his own style. He is comfortable in allowing Ferrell to take the lead and then with all the smoothness of a babies newborn bum, Wahlberg slides into his role, bouncing of the comedic turn of Big Willy's antics.
As the title refers, 'Daddy's Home' is primarily about fatherhood. Ferrell is the Step-dad, Brad Whitaker, who has longed to be a dad but because of an unfortunate incident, can no longer father his own. He gets his opportunity when he marries Sara (Linda Cardellini), a sheer beauty who has two children from a previous relationship. His dopey, almost childlike approach to his two step-children fuels the laughs from the very beginning. He is a man that loves his role and with each obstacle that the attention seeking brats throw in his way, it is met with positivity on every front. Brad's perfect world is turned upside down when the irresponsible biological father makes a visit. Dusty Mayron (Mark Wahlberg) is everything Brad is not. In a simple word, the man is cool. He knows everybody, makes friends easily and can do pretty much anything.
What follows is a riotous narrative of Step-dad versus dad as both Brad and Dusty go to great lengths to out do each other. The prize for the winner is Sara and the kids.
There are some truly great moments and throw in the dry humour of Thomas Haden Church as Leo Holt only adds flavour to an already delicious pie. A real standout was the well timed comments of Hannibal Buress whose presence is hard to ignore. His character, Griff, is likeable from the very appearance. His relationship with both Dusty and Brad is priceless and commands the audiences attention whenever he is in a scene.
'Daddy's Home' does exactly what it was supposed to do and that is to make people laugh. Director Sean Anders has delivered a thoroughly amusing film that allows its cast (especially Ferrell) to do their stuff. Relax and enjoy it. You will be rewarded.Hide
The Press Reviews
30%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
It's by-numbers filmmaking that rarely adds up to anything worth the price of admission. Full Review
Generally amusing but deeply predictable. Full Review
Anders's film tells a basic story in which strutting males repeatedly lock horns to varying degrees of comic effect. Full Review
A one-trick pony, and that trick - an effortlessly cool Wahlberg emasculating a beleaguered Ferrell - just isn't fresh or funny enough to sustain a 95-minute movie. Full Review
The first PG-13 comedy from R-rated laffer auteur Sean Anders ("Horrible Bosses 2," "That's My Boy") winds up an unpalatable mix with little to satisfy families or anyone who likes to laugh. Full Review
An irresistible pairing in a hollow display case of a movie. Full Review
If it all ends in cornball reconciliation, the dumb, fuzzy smile it leaves suggests it's well earned. Full Review
It is best avoided unless a movie that has the attitude and mind-set of a schoolyard bully happens to be your thing. Full Review
A movie just smart enough about being dumb. Full Review
BY Daniel Rutledge Flicks Writer
If you want to see Will Ferrell victimised by in-full-arsehole-mode Mark Wahlberg for an hour or so, this movie is for you. That actually could sound pretty appealing, but Daddy's Home is not a good movie. Far too many of the comedic beats miss their mark in this predictable and lazy story for me to recommend it.... More
Some of the biggest gags are given away in the trailer - including Ferrell crashing a motorbike, crashing into power lines while skateboarding, throwing a basketball into a cheerleader's head and being hit by a flying Wahlberg after losing a tree-house-building competition. These may have worked better in cinemas had the punchlines not been revealed in that two minute version of the film, but they're still pretty damn weak gags.
There's a real paint-by-numbers approach taken by writer Brian Burns and director Sean Anders, which is particularly frustrating as some reasonably dark and interesting themes almost come through in Daddy's Home. The two dads feuding for the affection of shitty, entitled kids could have held an interesting mirror up to similar real-world situations - but any time something deep threatens to reveal itself, it's pushed back behind the curtain with an average quip or more cringe-inducing physical comedy.
John Cena steals the show at the end of the film with his total of one single word of spoken dialogue. Hannibal Buress is also far better than this film deserves in his small role. If you're a Ferrell fanatic, you'll probably enjoy some of his Anchorman-esque uses of the English language, but there's really not a lot worth talking about here. Worth watching when it hits free-to-air TV.Hide
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