Daddy’s a bit too good to be true
Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, John Lithgow, Mel Gibson The apples haven’t fallen far from the tree, it seems. HOT on the heels of Bad Moms 2, which has its trio of misbehaving mothers reclaiming the holiday season for themselves, moviegoers are now treated to another pre-Christmas present in the form of Daddy’s Home 2, the follow-up to the hit Will Ferrell-Mark Wahlberg comedy from a couple of years back.
Much of the comedy in the first Daddy’s Home emerged from the clashing parenting styles and personalities of sensitive guy Brad (Ferrell) and stud Dusty (Wahlberg), the ex-husband of Brad’s wife Sara (Linda Cardellini).
Well, that and a lot of falling down, running into things and being hit with hard objects.
But now Brad and Dusty have become best mates, their different approaches proving to be a pretty nifty combination when it comes to bringing up their extended family. So what can Daddy’s Home 2 do to raise the comedic stakes? You guessed it: grandpas. But not just any grandpas. In its savviest move, this sequel pulls off some very astute casting by bringing aboard the excellent John Lithgow as Brad’s father Don, who’s so open and expressive with his feelings he makes Brad look like Clint Eastwood.
And in an equally clever (but perhaps more controversial) casting choice, Mel Gibson joins the line-up as Kurt, Dusty’s macho dad who shows up for Christmas and immediately takes charge of the celebrations by moving the whole clan to a rented ski lodge.
With his proudly politically incorrect bearing and obvious disdain for the wimpy demeanour of Don, Brad and even the newly enlightened Dusty, Kurt is the closet thing Daddy’s Home 2 has to a bad guy.
(Well, unless you’re counting wrestler John Cena as the super-masculine ex-husband of Dusty’s new wife Karen, played by the wonderfully named supermodel Alessandra Ambrosia. Cena really is shaping up as a hilarious secret weapon in a lot of recent comedies.)
The thing is, though, the movie doesn’t really have the guts to make Kurt too much of a villain, even if Gibson seems more than willing to go all-in when it comes to providing a toxic counterbalance to the sappy sweetness on offer.
And that’s pretty much the problem with Daddy’s Home 2 in a nutshell. It’s perfectly pleasant, but it shows absolutely no desire to crack a joke that might possibly run someone even slightly the wrong way.
Heck, it doesn’t even want to crack a joke that has the slightest chance of going over someone’s head.
And while there’s nothing wrong with being a crowd pleaser, and everyone involved is working hard to ensure the movie is big, broad fun for the whole family, one can’t help but feel even a little bit of an edge might have worked wonders for Daddy’s Home 2.