Daddy's Home (2015)

Stepdad, Brad Whitaker, is a radio host trying to get his stepchildren to love him and call him Dad, but his plans turn upside down when the biological father, Dusty Mayron, returns. 
(Summary from Imdb.com) 

Daddy's Home Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeknNwE4e1E

I was very happy when my mother told me that the whole family would go to the movies together and watch, 'Daddy's Home.' I couldn't remember the last time I watched a movie with the family since I started dorming at college. Plus, the trailer was funny enough.

I like Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg; they have a great reputation of performing in movies such as Ferrell starring in 'Elf' (2003) Wahlberg in 'The Fighter' (2010) and their duo performance playing as two incompetent cops in, 'The Other Guys' (2010) 

However, does this new movie about the battle of the dads stack up to their previous successful films?

In the beginning of the movie, it shows all around family-man, Brad Whitaker (Ferrell) eager to begin his day tending to his two step-children, Dylan and Megan (Owen Vaccaro & Scarlett Estevez) Whitaker has a delusional mindset, thinking Dylan and Megan are just as energetic as he is and looks up to him like an actual father. This is the direct opposite, as Dylan seems indifferent to his step-dad and Megan shows off her artwork of the family that includes a morbid drawing of Whitaker with a knife lodged in his head.

It's the typical trope of the children not warming up to the step father right away, but I can't complain, it's meant to be a comedy and those tropes are expected.

Though there is tension between Whitaker and the children, there is a glimmer a hope when Dylan later confines in him about his problems at school involving 4th grade bullies and Megan asks Whitaker to be her chaperone for an upcoming Father-daughter dance at her school.

All seems well until Whitaker's wife and mother of Dylan & Megan, Sara (Linda Cardellini) receives a phone call from her wild and crazy ex-husband, Dusty (Wahlberg). Whitaker learns during the phone call that Sara never told Dusty that she married again; this motivates Whitaker to talk to Dusty himself over phone and very happily invite him to the house.

Because of this, Sara immediately complains about this situation, but she only allows this to happen because her children always loved their dad and would enjoy having him around the house.

Whitaker sees Dusty at the airport and he wasn't prepared for how 'badass' he was. The film even provided slow-motion and cool music to his entrance, exaggerating the fact that he was cooler than Whitaker in every way.

When both of them arrive home, Dusty is already warmed up to his children and starts playing mind games with Whitaker, skewing his words in a way that would make Whitaker believe that Dusty was accepting of him being the step-dad. Instead, Dusty would refer to things totally out of that frame of mind.

These kind of mind games would span out throughout the movie, as well as Dusty attempting to steal his kids' love by helping Dylan with how to deal with his 4th grade bullies and telling fairy tales at bedtime which purposely describe the feud between Whitaker and himself. The children just ate it up; they were much more happy when Dusty was with them and it was at this point where I had a problem with the movie.

I've known of people who needed a long time-as long as years- to get used to their step parent, so having Whitaker be with the kids for about 8 months and there was still no huge breakthrough between him and the children is not strange, it makes sense in many cases. Even in the beginning where Megan drew her step-dad dead with a knife in his head isn't too far out of range from reality. Yet once Dusty comes into the picture, the kids' personalities are gone. All that I remember from the middle part of the film was their incessant begging for their dad to, "PLEASE PLEASE!" do this and that for them. It was driving me nuts, and that kind of whining is annoying, especially when the film doesn't give you at least ten minutes before the kids whine over something else.

Dusty is not only loved by his children, but by the whole community. His popularity damages Whitaker's spirit, but he still acts like he enjoys this other man's company; which annoyed me even more. He knew what Dusty was doing was wrong, but he was the greatest enabler for that. He even invited Dusty to stay in the house for a week!

Sara had more guts to push Dusty away, she was the voice of reason in this film and therefore my favorite character. She always had her husband's back and never caved into Dusty's advances. I was scared she would during a scene where she spoke about wanting another baby with Whitaker, even though he was believed to be barren.

I thought the writers would turn Sara into a cheater and sleep with Dusty, but later on cry and apologize that it was a moment of weakness and she and Whitaker would get back together. Thank goodness that wasn't the case, all that happened was Sara talking about the wish of having another baby and no cheating.

She is an example of a strong female character that many may not notice since she is in a comedy and viewers would focus more on the funny antics of Ferrell and Wahlberg, but I'm telling you now, if you watch that movie, you might admire the strength this character has.

From my experience, movies similar to, 'Daddy's Home' would have the wife siding mostly with the man who abandoned her just because he was strikingly attractive and her lust couldn't control her mind. Plots like that are interesting, but irritating when played over and over. It's nice to show a woman who stands her ground and is not swayed by her emotions.

Whitaker was silly but not charming. This is why I didn't like him. Disliking Whitaker does not mean I dislike all characters who come off as stupid or ignorant; there are many likable idiots in media ranging from the affectionate Lenny in the famous story, 'Of Mice and Men' or the lovable Edd from the Cartoon Network show, 'Ed, Edd,& Eddy'  The character must be played well and with some trait that would make them less pitiable and more likable (there's a difference)

Throughout the rest of the movie, Whitaker seems to have the whole world against him. When he is told face to face that Dusty wants to take his family back, now Whitaker tries to push Dusty away through crazy means like buying countless gifts for the kids and taking them to a basketball game by paying for 8 million dollar seats. This upsets Sara very much and Dusty ends up winning the kids' affection once again when they are able to meet a famous athlete due to Dusty's connections.

Also, Whitaker learns that Megan asked Dusty to join her in the Father-daughter dance after she recently asked him. This was the final straw for Whitaker and he drinks away the pain during the game, leading him to be a drunken mess and make a fool of himself. As a consequence, Sara kicks him out of the house. Dusty thinks that he has finally won his family back, but Sara confirms that this isn't the case, but since he's the only dad around, he must take up the errands Whitaker did for the kids.

The next day, and on the day of the dance, Dusty feels too much pressure handling the errands Whitaker would do, including just waiting for the kids to get out of school. So he drives off to an airport, ready to fly away and abandon his children once again. Whitaker somehow finds Dusty and talks about how sometimes as dads, they need to feel the pressure and do things they wouldn't want to do just to make their kids happy. This was pretty motivational and kind of cute; I even thought about the issues my own parents would struggle through for my happiness.

That part I enjoyed, though it didn't make me like Whitaker any more.

The two dads rush to the father-daughter dance where Sara is livid over their absence and leaving Megan alone for over an hour at the dance. Before either of them could dance with her, they notice Dylan being bullied by the 4th graders he always complained about, yet, these bullies are not what they seem.

This mini plot twist had the audience and me laughing a lot and for then on, there was joke after joke that were great hits and kept a big goofy grin on my face.

The end of the film overall topped all that happened before it, and after the dance, it showed that Whitaker was able to give Sara the third child she always wanted and Dusty stayed nearby the household and married someone new with his own step-child whose affections weren't towards him, but towards her birth father- who treats Dusty exactly the same way that Dusty treated Whitaker.

If you ever watch this film and see who the birth father is, you'd most likely be laughing in your seat because you'd know exactly who he is- especially if you're a big fan of social media and vine videos.

Well...this movie surprisingly left me with mixed emotions. It was difficult forming my opinion because I always wondered if I felt the way I did because I was being too hard on the plot or they were legit reasons to like or dislike the movie. Ultimately, I tried my best to stick to what I felt, no matter if they seemed biased or uncalled for.

Did I think it was a good movie? Actually...yes, it was for a comedy. Though I don't think it matches up to Ferrell and Wahlberg's previous works. The issues I brought up with the annoying children and Whitaker: The Door Mat are in fact-annoying to watch, but I don't hate the movie because of it. It shows the reality of some households, because children can be overbearing and love someone more than the other because of what they can provide and that's because...they're kids! They don't fully comprehend the true sacrifices adults make for them yet and therefore, should not be blamed for obsessing over a person who spoils them to death.

As for Whitaker, unfortunately, there are people who act like he did in reality and I think if he had a little bit more incentive to stand up for himself, then I would like him more. The constant ignorance he had, piled on with the whole community going against him wasn't too enjoyable, it was sad.

But on the bright side, there was a *straight man and that was Sara, who pointed out Whitaker and Dusty's misbehavior and that's what made the movie better. If everyone was an idiot, then there would be no comedy. In addition, the whole ending scene at the father-daughter dance and the surprise cameo at the end with the birth father was hilarious!

Should you go see it? I think so, it's not harmful and it does present comedy and there were some awesome jokes here and there. Watch it when you finished seeing all the big time movies first.

I feel like, 'Daddy's Home' will be forgettable in a few months, but I doubt you'd be very bored from watching it. 3 out of 5 stars.


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*Straight man- A stock character in a comedy performance. When their comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man's response ranges from aplomb to outrage, or from patience to frustration. They make their partner look all the more ridiculous by being completely serious. 
(Definition from Wikipedia.com)