My Review of Daddy’s Home · 4:30pm February 18th

Rating Scale:

12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made

Greetings, folks! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today. This morning, I will be reviewing another family/comedy film called “Daddy’s Home” which was released in 2015. As someone who enjoys Will Ferrell’s comedic performances, I was interested in checking this out last year on Paramount+, and to my joy, it turned out to be quite a hilarious treat. After re-watching it last night, it still proved to be an unforgettable experience.

This movie is about a stepdad who yearns for the love and appreciation of his wife’s kids and a biological father who has good looks and is loved by everyone despite being too carefree. Their rivalry gets out of hand the more they compete for the “Man of the Household” title.

I gotta say that both Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg brought out the best out of each other’s acting. They seem like a perfect duo when it comes to their banter, their chemistry, and how natural they sound in their back-and-forth with each other. Not to mention the fact that their lines of dialogue had flawless delivery.

Speaking of perfection, I really want to highlight the savagery of Dusty: his charismatic personality and oily manners separates him from Brad, and that enables him to gaslight and manipulate Brad at every opportunity he gets. But all that is flushed down the toilet once he eventually attempts to fill Brad’s shoes because he hasn’t been a good father to his kids when he was married to Sara.

Brad does try way too hard to get on his kids’ good side, but at least his heart is in the right place. But his primary weakness is letting Dusty’s shady remarks and subtle taunts get in his head which resulted in his possessive side getting the best of him.

So both men have their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to being a dad or father. Nonetheless, they both love their children and will do anything to make them happy. That’s their most powerful attribute, and it is that same attribute that unites them to be a good father/stepdad.

Sara is a decent character at best, and she thankfully isn’t a toxic partner to either of them. That’s all I got out of her. Not the best character but still a more believable and tolerable character than Lori from “Ted” (2012). Props to Linda Cardellini for her serviceable performance.

The comedy was well-timed, and most of the jokes landed pretty well although I feel like some of them went on way too long. For example, the part where Brad yells Griff’s name while he was facing towards the window and Griff was still in the office—that alone was funny at first until they made a joke about how they were gonna make it more emotionally dramatic. That’s when it got old and awkward really quick.

Speaking of Griff, I feel like he was incorporated as a side character way too soon. I had the impression he was only in it for a 15-second cameo for the sake of a joke, not that he was gonna have more screen time. This complete stranger is now a cool uncle for the kids? Umm, that raises some red flags…

That’s pretty much all the issues I have with this movie.

And one more thing: Thomas Haden Church stole every scene he was in. I loved his character and how casual he was with everybody throughout the movie…although the random stories he shared would’ve been more funny if there were flashbacks to them. I wanted to see how every bizarre detail he shared all went down. Just my opinion.

So overall, this is yet another well-done comedy film that balances both its humorous tone and mature tone. It reinforces the importance of being a good father to your children, and even if the family involves a stepdad, it’s also his duty to both love and care for his wife and kids in the same way a biological father should.

True, some father figures can get cocky or stubborn when it comes to their parental skills and want to one-up the other guy so he’s seen as the bigger rooster. Sadly, it will only create more dramatic tension in the family. That’s why fathers and stepfathers must humble themselves, learn their mistakes, and always be there for their family…especially their kids.

With that said, I will give this a straight 9/10! Great acting, good storyline, and excellent character development. I definitely recommend it to those of you who love seeing Ferrell and Wahlberg together in a movie.

Peace!