Just in time for what remains of the holiday season comes this occasionally hilarious film about Brad (Will Ferrell), an earnest, well-meaning guy who is desperate to be accepted as stepfather to his new wife Sara’s (Linda Cardellini) two children – Megan (Scarlett Estevez) and Dylan (Owen Vaccaro) – from her previous marriage to Dusty (Mark Wahlberg).
Just as the children appear to be coming around to accepting the devoted and hyper-emotional Brad into their lives, the athletic, super cool, motorbike-riding Dusty decides to make an impromptu visit to meet his ex-wife’s new husband and spend some time with his children. With the battlelines well and truly drawn, courtesy of a spectacular sequence when Brad pretends he can ride Dusty’s motorbike, the two dads go head-to-head to prove who is the best man for the job.
The writers, who collaborated on Dumb and Dumber (2014), Mr Popper’s Penguins (2011), She’s Out of My League (2010) and Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), hit their marks early, and with the exception of a couple of slides into what might be considered well above PG-rated terrain, the script bubbles along under Anders’ solid direction.
Ferrell and Wahlberg first teamed up as a couple of hapless New York City cops in The Other Guys (2010), and on this occasion, their easy-going camaraderie underpins the comedy beautifully, which results in it never becoming too dark or hostile. Even though there is much at stake for each of their characters, the sense that they admire and respect the importance of the other’s role in the children’s lives provides Daddy’s Home with unexpected heart and soul.
This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.
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