Daddy's Home: Successfully Doesn't End Will Ferrell's 'Meh' Streak

Since around about The Other Guys (the other movie with Will Ferrell and Mark Whalberg), Ferrell has put out some decent dramatic pics, sub-par (or 'meh') comedies, and downright crap. It's probably not coincidence that The Other Guys (other than Anchorman 2) was one of his last collaborations with director Adam McKay (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Stepbrothers).  They both took time off from doing silly Ferrell films to focus on other projects (McKay's The Big Short is astounding btw). Ferrell has had just a bunch of meh comedies since then.  So, the reuniting with Whalberg for another film sounds like it might be the punch to draw Ferrell back to comedy glory, but it really wasn't.  It's not a terrible movie.  It's bad, but it's bad the way TGIF sitcom was back in the 90s. The jokes are kinda obvious, the acting is a little hammy, but it's harmless fun for a younger generation. That's what Daddy's Home is.  It's harmless, but it's also not very good or funny.

The general premise is that Will Ferrell is a step-dad to two kids who don't really like him.  Once he's sorta earned their love, their real dad, Mark Whalberg shows up and he's a real cock. He treats Ferrell like shit and he's trying to win back his ex-wife, a severely under-utilized Linda Cardellini.  He's also trying to get his kids to hate Ferrell.  Ferrell, on the other hand, is trying to out-dad Whalberg and shit goes awry and stuff.  If it sounds like it's a one-joke pony, then you're about a joke over. It's like an idea you sit around and talk about, but no one ever really has the time or energy to sit down and actually write it.  Then, if someone does, it's the lazy writer who produces movies like Leap Year and When In Rome.  Again, they're harmless comedies that families can watch, but no one will enjoy.

A couple of things really got to me when watching the film.  The first was the mother's character.  If you're a Freaks and Geeks fan then you know how much talent Linda Cardellini has.  Her character doesn't do anything but comment here and there about shit going on.  Never once does she intervene and try and stop her creepy ex-husband from invading her home and defending her clearly ill-equipped husband. She responds to ludicrous situations with "that might not be a good idea" or "okay, sounds good".  That's it.  A deaf mute holding a cue card would have more characterization and brain power than her character.  And it's not that she's bad in it, there's just literally nothing for her to do.

The other major problem I had with the movie which leads to it being not very funny is it didn't really know who its audience is.  It's a movie where the majority of the running time is very family-friendly and kind of a silly kids movie that parents watch, partly enjoy, but are mostly glad to have the kids shut the hell up for an hour and a half.  But, then there are a few hard PG-13 moments that come out of nowhere that a lot of parents wouldn't want their smaller children to see (probably).  So, the tone was off.  Is this an off-color film for teens and adults riddled with obviously raunchy double entendres or is this a kids movie that's mostly clean, vanilla comedy? Neither one is given enough for one side to take the other. So, moments of goofy Disney Channel-esque humor (like Will Ferrell riding a skateboard up a ramp and getting shocked by a powerline), or is it standard Ferrell fare (like when he visits a sperm bank and there are several comments about his dick compared to Whalberg's)?

But, in the end, I couldn't hate the movie.  It's forgettable and it's not going to last.  It's a lot like Ferrell's last film, Get Hard (which I ended up liking more than I thought I would).  No one will remember it as one of the greats.  They'll remember that it was essentially a movie long prison rape joke. There were two... count 'em... two moments in Daddy's Home where I actually laughed out loud and for a decently extended period of time.  But two laughs in a film that's over 90 minutes long doesn't warrant your fifteen dollars to see it in a theater.  It warrants looking up a highlight reel of the best moments (two) on youtube in a year or so. It's meh.

C-