A sequel to the forgettable Daddy's Home, Daddy's Home 2 (PG) has been more thought-provoking that I could have predicted. (Seeking your forgiveness now for this being much longer than my usual cut-to-the-chase style.)
I won't labour telling you about the plot but the quick version is that it's about a blended family featuring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as dads trying to negotiate the tricky situations many family face co-parenting. Ferrell is the loving, innocent, nerdy dad and by amusing contrast Wahlberg is the tough, masculine one. In this film, their dads (John Lithgow as Ferrell's nerdy dad and Mel Gibson as Wahlberg's tough dad) come to town for Christmas and hilarity ensues.
So in truth, I laughed quite a bit (there's a fair bit of slap stick humour and that's right up my alley) when I watched Daddy's Home 2 with three of my nieces aged 10, 13 and nearly 15. They certainly laughed quite a bit. Here's their verdict:
So as you can hear, it's all positive from them.
But this film sits uncomfortably with me and it's mainly due to Mel Gibson; both the man and the character he plays in this film. Regarding the man, we're talking about someone proven to be sexist, racist, abusive and anti-Semitic. Need I remind you that a recording revealed he said to his then wife, "... if you get raped by a pack of niggers, it'll be your fault, all right? Because you provoked it."? Read this article "Here's how family-friendly Mel Gibson is" if you want to explore that more.
So now to the character he plays. As the tough, chauvinistic lousy dad and now granddad character, Mel Gibson does seem remarkably well cast. The crappy things he does in this film (take a young child out to buy a gun, treat women like objects and generally be a sexist pig... yuck and topical given the USA's gun crisis and the abuse scandal sweeping showbiz) aren't painted with enough negativity for me. I mean, sure he's the 'bad guy' in the film but only relative to the super nerds and the picture is absolutely one of a loveable bad guy. We're clearly supposed to forgive him for being sexist etc because by the end of the film he has gone some way to acknowledging he wasn't a great dad. I'm sorry, but NO.
So as you can see, I'm having all the feels about this film. It's mindless and at times pretty funny but if I knew the story before I went, would I have taken three young girls to see it? Probably not. Is the PG rating fair? Probably. Is it in line with my personal sensibilities? Not really. Am I being a wowser? I don't reckon.
The film opened in the US last weekend and had a good financial result but the critics have savaged it. More info here.
I'm always interested to hear what readers of this blog think about films but especially with this one. If you do see it, pop by our Facebook page and let's know what you think.
In cinemas 23 November. Trailer here.