Cranky “Old Dads” misdirects its anger at millennials
Comedian Bill Burr poorly attempts to translate his stand-up act to a feature film in “Old Dads,” the cringe-y equivalent of the “Old Man Yells at Cloud” “Simpsons” gag- turnedmeme.
An alternate title could have been “What’s With These Millennials and Their Feelings?” Burr, who also directed and co-wrote the comedy, stars as Jack, an ornery 51-year-old father of a young son. He lives in L.A. and just doesn’t understand the world these days, and he’s got a couple buddies, Connor (Bobby Cannavale) and Mike (Bokeem Woodbine), in the same boat. Things have changed since they were younger (gasp), so that must mean everyone is wrong and doggone it they’re right!
Among the offenses facing Jack: vegans, vaping, paper straws and his wife’s ( Katie Aselton) mere suggestion that he talk to a professional over his feelings of explosive rage toward everyone and everything that entered the world post- 1988. “You want me to go a shrink?” he asks, incredulously, like it’s still the ’90s and “The Sopranos” never happened.
Jack and his pals are laid off from their throwback jersey company after their new CEO, Aspen ( Miles Robbins), turns their business into a “gender neutral, carbon neutral, 21st century lifestyle apparel brand.” (Oh my.) He’s further chafed by the head of his kid’s school, Dr. Lois Schmieckel-Turner ( Rachael Harris), who’s just so uptight, man. What’s Jack and his clique of Beastie Boys-loving man children to do to blow off some steam? Well, they head out for a road trip to Palm Desert because Vegas is too far, one of the film’s few effective bits.
The characters aren’t really characters so much as they’re stand-ins and targets for Burr’s ideas and jokes, and those jokes are as stale as the Caitlyn Jenner material Burr dusts off here. When someone rightly dismisses his character with an “OK, boomer” blow off, Jack sneers “Generation X!” in response. He means it to sound defiant, but it comes off as sad evidence that on a long enough timeline, every generation becomes their parents. Get off my lawn, indeed.