[yasr_overall_rating]
Having finally gotten used to each other’s existence, Brad and Dusty must now deal with their intrusive fathers during the holidays.
I wasn’t very impressed with the original “Daddy’s Home,” I felt like a lot of the movie quickly deteriorated into sophomoric and juvenile territory, just to gain some laughs and when “Daddy’s Home 2” was announced, my first response was me, falling to my knees with my arms raised to the heavens, crying “Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?” And then I heard that John Lithgow was attached and suddenly my curiosity was piqued. And then Mel Gibson, one of my all-time favorite actors, came on board and I was intrigued so when I received a review copy of the movie on 4K, I figured, “why the hell not? It can’t be that bad?” And you know what, it wasn’t. Actually, I had more fun with it than I thought I would. Between the combined talents of Wahlberg, Ferrell, Gibson, and Lithgow, actors mainly known for more serious fare, even Ferrell turned in a serious role in the TV movie “A Deadly Adoption,” and you have a surefire bonafide comedy. Granted, there are still some ‘eye-rolling’ moments but for the most part, the humor hits its target.
With both Brad (Will Ferrell) and Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) now best friends, things couldn’t be better. For those who haven’t seen the original, Brad is married to Dusty’s ex-wife Sara (Linda Cardellini) and has become Dusty’s children’s stepdad. The first movie was all about who could be the better dad but they have moved on from that and their living arrangements as co-dads are copasetic. When the entire family attends their young daughter Megan’s (Scarlett Estevez) school play, she announces that she doesn’t like having to spend Christmas at two houses, at home with her mom and Brad, and then with Dusty and his wife Karen (Alessandra Ambrosio) and daughter Adrianna (Didi Costine). Later that evening, Brad, Dusty and Sara take it to heart about what Megan said and they decide that they will spend Christmas Day as one big family in one location. Unbeknownst to them all, Dusty’s dad Kurt (Mel Gibson) and Brad’s father Don (John Lithgow) have invited themselves for Christmas and the family couldn’t be happier. That is, of course, until Dusty warns them that his father will do everything in his power to break up the family as he is an old-fashioned, misogynist dinosaur, who cares about nobody but himself. Don, on the other hand, is caring and affectionate towards everyone, sometimes a little too much, especially when he greets Brad at the airport and kisses him on the lips. For a long time. The entire family heads out to a rented spacious log cabin in the snowy mountains leading up to Christmas, and thus, begins childish antics, buffoonery and all around shenanigans, pitting dad against dad and grandfather against grandfather.
The movie works, surprisingly, on many levels, dealing with divorce and how it can affect not just the children in a family but also the adults. Of course, this isn’t a drama so the occasional serious moments are broken up with some much-needed humor. Dusty’s young son Dylan (Owen Vaccaro) is getting to that age where girls are making an impact on him but he doesn’t know what to do about it. With his dad, stepdad, and grandfather giving him advice, the final outcome is hilarious. John Cena makes an appearance as the father of Adrianna, Dusty’s stepdaughter (confusing, I know) and the entire movie concludes in a movie theater with the entire cast singing a rendition of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” The film is set during the Christmas holidays and wraps up everything nice and neatly at the very end, complete with a big red bow and while decidedly upbeat happy endings don’t always work, here, for the most part, it does. Granted, it leaves the door open for “Daddy’s Home 3” but let’s just hope that all actors involved will be too busy with their schedules to even look at that script.
Available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray & DVD February 20th
