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DADDY’S HOME 2 – Review – We Are Movie Geeks

Review

DADDY’S HOME 2 – Review

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The holiday movie season is in full swing this weekend with a yuletime-set sequel to a recent raucous comedy…again. Yes, it was barely ten days ago when a really early cinema gift arrived at the multiplex, BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS. Well there are a couple of differences, this new flick is a follow-up to a 2015 release rather than the more recent, just over a year old BAD MOMS. Plus the matriarchs’ antics are a tad more adult-themed, since both films garnered much-deserved “R” ratings for raunch. The new arrival is the more “family friendly” PG-13 (it might be even more wholesome than the first one, since there’s less talk of fertility). However both recent installment deal with the chaos and conflict initiated by the visit of the grandparents (Moms had one grandpop’ while this one doesn’t have a granny’ till the last moments). So, put those shopping lists away and take a break with DADDY’S HOME 2.

 

Just as with the last scenes of the first flick, things are going well with biological papa Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) and stepdad Brad (Will Ferrell). Brad’s still raising Dusty’s kids, Megan (Scarlett Estevez) and Dylan (Owen Vacero), plus he and Sara (Linda Cardellini) have their own toddler son, Griff. Down the street from them Dusty shares his mini-castle with new wife Karen (Alessandra Ambrosio) and her daughter from a previous marriage Adrianna (Didi Costine). With Christmas just days away, he’s stressed by the visit from his estranged father. It just so happens that Brad’s pop is flying in on the same day, so they both head to the airport. Dusty spots his father, macho, womanizing ex-astronaut Kurt (Mel Gibson) first coming down the escalator from the gate. After a strained reunion , the two are both uncomfortable by the PDA-filled greetings between Brad and his dad, Don (John Lithgow). As the big day approaches, Kurt suggests they rent a huge place where both families can bond (Dusty questions his pop’s true motives). Soon everyone is settling in at a rustic estate nestled in a snowy, picture-perfect forest. Of course the harmony doesn’t last. Parenting styles are questioned, while Dusty and Sara don’t understand why Brad hasn’t noticed that is father is …off (mom stayed behind to nurse her sick brother…okay). Eventually an all-out family war breaks out with Brad calling in the big guns, namely Karen’s ex the hulking Roger (John Cena). Will all these squabbles make this the worst Christmas ever?

 

 

Once again, Ferrell and Wahlberg are a pretty terrific team. Ferrell’s Brad is still an over-emotional mess (his attempts to stifle a sob are a thing of beauty), whenever he’s not a joyous wide-eyed “man-child”. Wahlberg’s toned down the intimidating glares, but is still an expert straight-man to Ferrell. These two apples don’t fall far from the trees. Lithgow is a bouncing sprite, his Don’s an over-sharing ray of sunshine until his secret is finally revealed during an awkward “improv” game. It’s been a while since Gibson has done a flat-out comedy, and he attacks this role with gusto. With his charcoal-gray pompadour and blazing eyes, Kurt is a human wrecking ball disguised as a unrepentent “tom cat”. Cardellini gets to show off her comedy chops more this time out, especially as she deals with the impossibly perfect Karen (just what is she jotting down in that lil’ note book). Plus the kids generate a good deal of laughs. Vaccaro is still an endearing sweet nerd. New addition Costine is a dead-eyed preteen nightmare as she walks all over Dusty. The wild card is Estevez as a pint-sized hellion in the great tradition of Margaret O’Brien in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS. This little spitfire steals scenes effortlessly. Though he doesn’t show up till late in the action, Cena is all hard muscled charm with a heart always melting at the sight of his little girl.

 

Director Sean Anders returns along with his writing partners to see that this follow-up adheres closely to the comic beats of the original. Though Thomas Haden Church as Brad’s crude boss and Hannibal Buress don’t return, the great pairing of Gibson and Lithgow more than makes up for their absence. There are a couple of clever “call-backs” to slapstick bits as Brad “dies” once more and a defective snow-blower rather than a cycle wreak havoc (I can’t imagine their auto insurance premiums). Anders can’t avoid the dreaded third act lull (the flick could use a good 6 or 7 minute trim), and the final sequence set at a multiplex feels a bit too much like “product placement” (reminding me of the big musical number in MAC AND ME set at a certain fast food burger place). Happily there’s nice wink at unorthodox holiday-set action flicks (like the first DIE HARD and..ahem..LETHAL WEAPON), as they sit down to watch a bullet-ridden blockbuster. There are yuletide film staple situations (decorating, snow slides, shopping and a live nativity) as everyone lumbers toward an inevitable happy ending of reconciliation and mutual understanding (along with a fun cameo for a final gag). But when the jokes really connect, they hit hard (the running thermostat stuff’s pretty funny). That along with the gorgeous East Coast winter locales makes DADDY’S HOME 2 a pretty good stocking stuffer, and not a lump of coal.

3.5 Out of 5

 

 

 

Jim Batts was a contestant on the movie edition of TV's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in 2009 and has been a member of the St. Louis Film Critics organization since 2013.