Daddy's Home

As I've mentioned before, comedy is my favorite genre, because it's a way to be able to totally escape into different situations where they, a lot of times, are incredibly over-the-top so one can simply enjoy. However, within the past decade, or more, comedies have not been very funny, if funny at all. So whereas I always looked forward to the next comedy, I now have anxiety when a comedy is released wondering if its going to be a total wasteland or not. One very funny film I, with great trepidation, went to see was "Daddy's Home", and it seriously surprised me.

Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) is a mild-mannered everyman whose only goal in life is to be the best stepdad to the two kids of his wife Sarah (Linda Cardellini). Just when he thinks he finally won them over, Sarah's supercool ex-husband and biological father of her children, Dusty Mayron (Mark Wahlberg), comes back into the picture determined to usurp Brad's standing as the favorite dad. These two polar opposites soon get caught up in a competition to win the hearts of the family they both love, but their rivalry quickly escalates out of control. Brad seeks advice from his boss, Leo Holt (Thomas Haden Church) at the radio station that Brad works, about his problem with Dusty basically muscling himself into his family, and Leo only confuses Brad even more than Brad already is. With all the uproarious situations going on, which one will ultimately win in spite of their tremendous differences?

Others to round out the cast are Bobby Canavale as Dr. Francisco, Hannibal Buress as Griff, Scarlett Estevez and Owen Vaccaro as Megan and Dylan, the kids, Bill Burr as Jerry, Bully's Dad, and Jamie Denbo as Doris.

Obviously director Sean Anders ("Never Been Thawed" '05, "Sex Drive" '08, "That's My Boy" '12, "Horrible Bosses 2" '14), knows his way around a comedy considering his aforementioned resume. He's a consummate pro at creating setups with his actors so they come across even funnier than normal, so when they are in the middle of a particular pratfall, with the pacing being just so, ends up being funnier than usual. It was creatively written by Brian Burns, Anders and John Morris based on a story by Burns. Much in the vein of whacky comedies this film soars. Its dialogue and pratfalls meld together very well which makes this much funnier than I would've thought. Then add the ingredient of there being an 'odd couple' situation (two totally opposite personalities) thrown in the mix, and you end up with some seriously hefty belly laughs. Sure, this is nothing worthy of an Academy Award, which I'm sure was purposed, and there was a little choppiness in script, but it was pure escapism at its finest, and the chemistry between Ferrell and Wahlberg was first rate. This was a much better teaming of these two than was "The Other Guys", mostly because the writing in this was far better.

If you want to go to the multiplex just to escape into an uproarious story with funny lines and pratfalls, this will be the vehicle for you. Even if your taste falls more with the dry comedies, if one keeps an open mind, one will see that this is truly funny, and we could all use a good laugh every now and then.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                  Rated: PG-13                                  96mins.