Summary
7 tech score
“Daddy’s Home Two” (Paramount Pictures)
After the super crude, super bad “A Bad Moms Christmas” opened last week it looked like the possibility of having a good Christmas comedy had sunk into the sea. But then “Daddy’s Home Two” arrived in theaters and our Christmas wishes were fulfilled. “Daddy’s Home Two” is a sequel that works and fills our hearts with joy. It is funny and touching, full of characters we can all love a little.
In the original movie we were introduced to Brad (Will Ferrell) and Dusty (Mark Wahlberg), two men who were determined to co-parent together. Brad is married to Dusty’s ex-wife Sara (Linda Cardellini) and is step-dad to their two kids. In this sequel Brad and Dusty are still co-parenting but now have also decided to have a co-Christmas together with both Dusty and Brad’s families. The kicker is that both men’s fathers also show up for the Christmas gathering.
Brad’s father Don (John Lithgow) is a sentimental man who dotes n his son. They show a lot of affection towards each other. Dusty’s dad Kurt (Mel Gibson) is a macho man who sees his son only rarely, and is not demonstrative at all. While Brad is jubilant his dad is joining the family Christmas, Dusty is incensed his father would dare to show up. Brad hopes that his great relationship with his father will rub off on Dusty and Kurt.
The film takes this premise and brings in some laugh out loud funny situations. Others are a little cheesy, and one dealing with strings of Christmas lights on the house is too much like “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”. Still watching Ferrell cope with a Siri-like machine in the shower is entertainment at its best.
Both Ferrell and Wahlberg have their roles down to perfection and Lithgow is absorbed into the family with ease. The big surprise is Gibson. He is great with the comedy and throws himself into each and every scene regardless of how awkward it makes him look. Cardellini’s role is much smaller than those of the male actors but she manges to make her presence known throughout the movie.
The secret of the movie’s success is it has such a warm center. “A Bad Moms Christmas” tried to see how crude it could be. “Daddy’s Home Two” doesn’t go that route. It has its moments of adult humor but these jokes and situations are not to the extreme. This movie is aimed for the family audience and keeps that goal in mind. There is a big musical number in the film that should be just too stupid to be tolerated but for some reason it works,
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and adult situations.
If you are looking for a movie to put you in the holiday spirit, plus give you a lot of laughs as well as some tender moments, then “Daddy’s Home Two” is the movie for you. You will come out of the theater with a smile on your face and a tear in your eye.
I scored “Daddy’s Home Two” a granddaddy’s home too 7 out of 10.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
