Father Figures

Starring: Owen Wilson, Ed Helms, Glenn Close, Terry Bradshaw, Ving Rhames, J.K. Simmons, June Squibb, Katt Williams, Christopher Walken
Directed by: Lawrence Sher
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two brothers (Owen Wilson, Ed Helms) set out to search for their real father after learning their mother (Glenn Close) lied to them about him being dead.

Review:

Tim: I suppose there might have been a kernel of a good idea in Father Figures but it's surrounded by the lowest common denominator storytelling that has sunk so many comedies. The film just feels so lazy. Like, every time the easiest way could have been taken, that's the path the script follows. This is a generic, forgettable movie.

The idea of two grown men seeking the father they never knew is a fine premise for a movie. The set up was so stupid, however. The two men go to these extreme lengths to find their father when they could have literally saved almost all the time they spent by having an honest conversation with their mother. I even get why they might not have wanted to do that originally, but as the film progresses and things spin out of control, it simply defies all logic for these men to continue down the quixotic path they're on. It was so obvious a device to continue the story and create the next set of hijinks. It was lazy writing.

The meat of the movie isn't all that funny. The first father they find is Terry Bradshaw, and it's so uncomfortably obvious how it will all turn out. There's a few decent laughs that result, but none are all that good. The second potential father is J.K. Simmons and at this point, nothing really matters. The story is no longer funny and the obviousness continues. Our main characters get into a sticky situation, but it's presented so poorly that it just makes these characters seem so oblivious. Again, it's bad writing. From here, the script picks up a slight amount of steam and throws a few unexpected twists. These were certainly appreciated, but it's too little, too late. The movie as a whole is just a mess. The journey these men go on it's particularly interesting or funny. It grows tiresome. There's lessons learned along the way, but it's all surface level. It gets more aggravating the longer the film goes on.

I suppose Owen Wilson and Ed Helms were decent as brothers. It felt like they both phoned in the performances a bit. They were safe, expected performances from them both. Now, I do like Wilson and Helms, so I give the film some credit for leveraging their strengths. On the other hand, it just felt so expected and redundant. Glenn Close was fun to see here, but she has so little to do. I laughed a few times at Terry Bradshaw embracing the perception that he's an idiot, but that was pretty weak humor. I like J.K. Simmons a lot, but his role was too over-the-top to be funny. He's a great actor, but he just looked silly here. I always like seeing Ving Rhames, and his presence is welcome. Unfortunately, his introduction is so forced and moronic. Katt Williams usually annoys the absolute heck out of me, but I found him fine here. That was a shocking development. He's not good, but I didn't mind him. Christopher Walken was a great addition, but I felt bad he was stuck in such a poor movie. He doesn't get much of an opportunity to influence the film. As a whole, Father Figures is a bad movie with a great cast.

I always hate being hard on comedies, but this felt like such a subpar performance from everyone involved. It's a forgettable, stupid movie that isn't funny in the least.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5



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