Daddy weirdest
FATHER FIGURES
JUST what dudes the world over have been waiting for — a “Mamma Mia!” to call their own.
Only instead of an innocent young ingénue desperately seeking a dad to walk her down the aisle on an idyllic Greek island, the new comedy “Father Figures” puts middle-aged Owen Wilson and Ed Helms on a quest to out-stupid each other at various motels and suburban subdivisions.
Wilson and Helms play twin brothers, who look so unlike each other that it’s a big stretch of the imagination to believe that they are even fraternal twins. When their mom (Glenn Close) tells the prickly pair that the dead man whom they thought was their father actually is not, the boys embark on a cross-country trip to find their real dad.
The trio of potential pops are played by Terry Bradshaw, J.K. Simmons and Christopher Walken. All of those big-personality actors are a lot of fun.
But, on the whole, the movie isn’t. You expect the hilarity of Wilson’s other delightfully dumb buddy comedies such as “Zoolander” or “Wedding Crashers.” Big laughs, however, are hard to come by here. The scenes are either too heavy (the climax is the downer of the year), too sedate or too gross. Would you like to watch Wilson and a young child urinate on each other in a rest-stop bathroom? Thought not.
The one really funny sequence involves a hitchhiker whom the brothers only agree to give a ride to if they can tie him up, in case he’s actually a serial killer. The man is played by Katt Williams with exquisite timing, and a surprising amount of physical humor for a person bound by bungee cords. But that’s just a few minutes out of a nearly two-hour movie.
Running time: 113 minutes. Rated R (language, sexual references). Now playing.