Father Figures Review
R: language and sexual references throughout
Warner Bros. Pictures, Alcon Entertainment, The Montecito Picture Company
1 Hr and 53 Minutes
Dir: Lawrence Sher | Writer: Justin Malen
Cast: Owen Wilson, Ed Helms, J. K. Simmons, Katt Williams, Terry Bradshaw, Ving Rhames, Harry Shearer, June Squibb, Christopher Walken, Glenn Close
INTRO: Oh WB comedies. You used to be my guilty pleasure, but now you’re my mortal enemy.
Fraternal twin brothers, Kyle and Peter Reynolds (Owen Wilson and Ed Helms) have learned that their father did not die when they were young as they had previously believed, and their eccentric mother, Helen Baxter (Glenn Close) had slept with many rich, famous and powerful men in the 1970's. When they go on a road trip to find out who their real father is, they find out more family secrets and more about their mother than they probably ever wanted to know, as well as encountering a mysterious hitchhiker and other misadventures while they also go on a journey of self-discovery about their family, themselves and each other.
THE BAD
Here's a live reaction to my audience including myself trying to watch this movie:
Its a shame a lot of my worst films of the year are Warner Bros. comedies, and this has to be the icing on the cake. Congrats "CHIPs," you’re not the worst comedy I’ve seen this year because I tallied the number of laughs I had in both films.
"CHIPs": 7 in a 101-minute movie. Two laugh out loud ones and five chuckles.
"Father Figures": 4 in a 115-minute movie, and they were all chuckles.
"Father Figures" is a comedy that desperately tries to be funny so bad and it fails to do so incredible poorly. The last time I saw a road trip comedy that tried to be funny so desperately was "Identity Thief" in 2013. There are scenes of shock value comes into play which just happens out of nowhere. There is a sequence where Owen Wilson goes to a bathroom and starts using the urinal. Then a little boy comes from the stall where his dad is taking a dump in and then starts peeing on Owen Wilson. Then the dad who is unseen says, “Oh my son does that. Just pee on him back. He needs to learn the consequences for his actions.” So what does Owen Wilson do? He pees on him! The funniest thing about that scene was someone in my theater commenting “Oh. Where’s R.Kelly?”
The only two huge jokes that make me laugh hard as hell were in theater jokes made by me and some anonymous people in my audience that made me laugh. One was the R. Kelly call out, and then the other was a back and forth riff off of Owen Wilson made by another audience member and me. It was a brilliant two minute moment of several people, and I going,
What pisses me off the most about this movie is one of the primary reasons its going high on my “Worst Of” list: its release date.
Back in time this movie was once called “Bastards” and was to be released in January of this year. Then for some reason, WB shelved it and then had the audacity to both rename the movie and release it for Christmas because they know that was the perfect time to get money from moviegoers.
This could’ve been a 90-minute story but no its a near two-hour road trip film where there are nearly 30 minutes where it doesn’t focus on these two characters finding their fathers but try to “develop” these brothers who do nothing but argue.
Shit, this movie feels so damn cheap that every transition in this feels like an intro to the DVD’s home menu.
THE GOOD
The ending is decent. Through 115 minutes of the movie, the wrap up its actually strong as it presents a twist that is both heartwarming and well written. It may be manipulative but the final ten minutes ended up, it is way too smart for the rest of the movie that builds up for that moment. If anything, this could've worked more if it was a drama. Nope, you had to aim for the low aiming fruit of an R-rated comedy.
LAST STATEMENT
"Father Figures" should've stuck to its original title, "Bastards" because this unfunny road trip comedy is a bastardization to the word comedy.
Rating: 0.5/5 | 12%
Super Scene: Twist ending.
