Daddy’s Home 2: A Farce of Festive Folly
An exceptionally silly yet occasionally funny adult farce about a large family celebrating Christmas together.
Following their past squabbles, Brad (Will Ferrell) and Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) have come to terms with Brad being married to Dusty’s ex-wife and raising his children, while Dusty is constantly involved in their lives, all while raising a stepdaughter with his new wife. The men have become so close that they decide to celebrate Christmas together as one big family. For the holiday, Don (John Lithgow), Brad’s father, arrives, who is even more sensitive and affectionate than his offspring. Suddenly, Kurt (Mel Gibson) – Dusty’s father, who can’t stand “mushy tenderness” and believes that Dusty has become unacceptably “soft” with his new family – also shows up. So, when the family gathers in a rented mansion at a winter resort, Kurt tries to drive a wedge between Dusty and Brad and convince his son to act like a macho man again.
Do you enjoy watching American little girls get drunk on Christmas rum cocktails and act like characters from a slapstick comedy? Do you like watching adult father and son kiss on the lips, as passionately as if they had just entered into a gay marriage? Do you adore scenes in which completely sober people in broad daylight try to cut down a Christmas tree, but instead cut down a cell tower with expected consequences like electric shock? If so, then you are the target audience of director and screenwriter Sean Anders, who released the family comedy for adults “Daddy’s Home” two years ago, and now continues its story in a new comedic farce.
In fact, both films in the series touch on very serious and painful topics, and they could well have been filmed as thoughtful and realistic tragicomedies. But Anders is not concerned with thoughtfulness and realism. The director has created a purebred farce – one where the characters seem to be competing to see who can be the biggest fool, and the audience in the hall feels that every five minutes in front of the screen reduces their IQ by several points.
Behind the Scenes
The film’s outdoor scenes were filmed in early spring. Due to the changeable weather, the crew alternated between working with artificial and real snow.
The Plot (or Lack Thereof)
Formally, “Daddy’s Home 2” has a plot, and the characters learn a couple of life lessons by the end of the action. But in fact, the picture is a series of ridiculous and silly moments strung on a thin thread, some of which are quite funny. For example, an absurd family squabble about what temperature the mansion’s thermostat should be set to (Dusty’s stepdaughter likes tropical heat, while the men prefer it to be cooler). Or an even more outrageous scene in which Dusty’s little daughter shows a bloodthirsty penchant for killing turkeys and goes hunting with her bewildered grandfather Kurt (Kurt had hoped to get not his granddaughter, but his grandson, into hunting).
Triple the Fun
The baby Griffy was played by triplet girls. Twins are often found for such roles in Hollywood, because babies cannot be filmed for long periods.
Is This Movie For You?
If you are shocked by drunk little girls or little girls with the makings of maniacs, then Anders did not make a movie for you. Likewise, this is not “your” movie if you believe that the moment when Don emotionally, with tears in his eyes, publicly pours out his soul to his son, should have been presented with respect for the feelings of an elderly man, and not with cynical farcical giggling. But this is the kind of movie that, in exact accordance with the saying, will not spare even its father for the sake of a catchy phrase. True, the phrase here is not catchy, but silly.
Do you want to empathize with the characters? No, they are too implausible to seem like real people. Do you want to laugh at them? Yes, from time to time. If you are comfortable with the above-described sense of humor. In general, if you want to see Ferrell, Lithgow, Wahlberg, Gibson, and others look idiotic, then why not spend time in their company?