Daddy's Home (2015)

"Let's all just be grateful nobody got hurt, okay?" 

"I got hurt!"

Brad Whitaker (Ferrell) loves being a dad.  He is the step-father to Dylan (Vaccaro) and Megan (Estevez), who slowly accept him into their lives.  When Dylan turns to him for advice and Megan invites him to a father-daughter event, Brad could not be happier.  But his happiness is short-lived when his wife, Sara's (Cardellini), ex-husband Dusty (Wahlberg) shows up.

Dusty is charismatic and cool and the kids adore him.  Soon Brad is competing with Dusty for the kids affections.  Dusty passive-aggressively undermines Brad at every turn, and ends up moving into their home.  Can Brad keep his happy home, or will Dusty walk away with everything.


This is the second on-screen pairing of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg: in 2010 they starred in The Other Guys.  Both are game for whatever is thrown their way and seem to be having a great time together.

This movie is funnier than I was expecting it to be.  It's not a great film, but it is funny.  Thomas Haden Church and Hannibal Buress are standouts.  Church's character is Brad's boss, who tells inappropriate stories.  Buress is the handyman they hire and fire in a short amount of time, and then moves into the house as well.  Both are ridiculous characters, but everything they say kills.  Linda Cardellini doesn't get to do much, other than look pretty and react to the men, which is a shame.  She is a talented comedic actress and could definitely do more to help the plot...  The kids are cute and get some funny and heartwarming moments.

It's funny, it's sentimental, Wahlberg is shirtless several times, and there is a big dance toward the end, what more could you ask for?

Daddy's Home (2015) 96 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements, crude and suggestive content, and for language
Director: Sean Anders
Starring: Will Ferrell as Brad Whitaker
Mark Wahlberg as Dusty Mayron
Linda Cardellini as Sara Whitaker
Scarlett Estevez as Megan Mayron
Owen Vaccaro as Dylan Mayron
Hannibal Buress as Griff
Thomas Haden Church as Leo