Five years after they were “The Other Guys”, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg re-team for the refreshing and consistently funny final comedy of 2015, “Daddy’s Home”.
The story centers around Ferrell’s Brad Whitaker, a mild-mannered radio executive in New Orleans who recently married Sara (“ER”‘s Linda Cardellini) and is now Step-Dad to her two children – Elementary School-age Megan and Dylan. The kids are finally starting to accept Brad as their new dad when biological father Dusty (Wahlberg) unexpectedly calls and talks his way into a visit. Dusty’s “bad boy” persona – slicked-back hair, muscular body and motorcycle – is directly opposite of Brad in every way.
Obviously, the two don’t exactly get along, and a rivalry begins for the love of the kids. This premise provides director Sean Anders (“Horrible Bosses 2”) with a toolkit filled with comic opportunities from Ferrell and Wahlberg, and thankfully the majority of them get the job done. The hijinks, much of it over-the-top, all feature the quintessential Ferrell touch accompanied by Wahlberg’s equally playful nature. These two, once again, make for a fun pair.
What makes “Daddy’s Home” one of the funniest films of the year is its script, which includes a lot of dry, sarcastic humor and some great wisecracks, and not just from the two leads. Both Hannibal Burress (“30 Rock”, “Neighbors”) as a handyman who ends-up moving into the Whitaker home, and Thomas Haden Church, as Brad’s boss at “103.6 – The Panda” add major laughs. Unfortunately, Cardellini has little to do in any of her scenes but react.
Intentional product placement gags abound, from Red Bull to Cinnabon and the all-new, family-friendly Ford Flex. However, the family-friendly description can’t be used to describe “Daddy’s Home”. While the story does feature young kids, and the months of promotion has been geared to families, this is a legitimate PG-13 comedy. The dialogue is filled with adult language and there are plenty of sex jokes and references, including some lengthy scenes at a fertility clinic. These elements could’ve been trimmed or eliminated and the film would’ve worked just as well, or better.
Like most Ferrell comedies, “Daddy’s Home” has its problems. Some scenes go on too long, the bedtime story running joke gets thin after the third or fourth time, and the messages aren’t as clean and clear as they could have been. But this is one of those comedies that clearly exceeded my expectations. I never expected to laugh as much as I did. And even though it’s been all over YouTube and dominating commercials and trailers for months, Ferrell’s half-court shot escapades at a Pelicans/Lakers game joins the small group of his all-time memorable movie scenes.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Daddy’s Home” gets a B. In a year of sub-par pure comedies, it’s nice to end on high note.
Running Time: 96 min.