It’s time for another Will Ferrell (Zoolander 2) comedy and this time he takes Mark Wahlberg along for the ride in the fatherly fracas that is Daddy’s Home (2015). It’s the second Ferrell comedy of the year following up on the jail bird hood-life shenanigans of Get Hard with Kevin Hart back in spring 2015 and it’s a duo formula that’s back in action in the new film too, but with a big chunk of comic rivalry, which has worked well for him in the past with Taledego Nights, Blades Of Glory and Stepbrothers.
It’s not the first time the two actors have worked together as they also starred alongside each other in action comedy police caper The Other Guys in 2010. Walberg adds to the funny guy creds he’s been cultivating with the likes of Ted and Pain & Gain in addition to his more action packed roles in Transformers: Age Of Extinction and if the trailer below is anything to go by it looks like it will be a bit of both worlds in Daddy’s Home.
Release date
Cinema: The UK release date for the film took place on the 26th December 2016, so it put in a lot of effort to temp cinema-goers out in the cold of the post-Christmas glut to see it. The US release date was a day earlier for some reason, so clearly there must be a big tradition for cinematic action straight after the turkey and stuffing in the States. The timing did mean that it had little in the way of direct competition at the cinema at the same time with The Peanuts Movie out a week earlier and In The Heart Of The Sea the only other release of the Christmas weekend in the UK.
DVD, Blu-ray and digital download: The UK home entertainment release date was the 2nd May 2016, following up on the film’s arrival on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download in the States on the 22nd March 2016.
Story
Daddy’s Home tells the story of two dads that go to war over the affections of their kids. On the well meaning, good spirited side of the divide is step-dad Brad (Ferrell), who is now married to Sarah and trying to do his best job of winning over the affections of her two young children. On the less dependable side is Dusty (Wahlberg), their biological dad who re-appears in their life out of nowhere to steel all of the fatherly glory.
Dusty has managed to shake off the stigma of having girls name to get a bad boy reputation, helped by a slick-back hair style, leather jacket and a motorbike, which Brad struggles to compete with in a family he was already struggling to impress. However, as you’d expect from this kind of film, Brad rallies a fight back and things escalate out of control pretty quickly, which you can get a feel for from the trailer below.
Cast
In all fairness, this is a movie that looks pretty stripped back when it comes to the casting, with Will Ferrell and Marky Mark taking on the majority of the funky bunch credits. They’re added to by Linda Cardellini (Avengers: Age Of Ultron), who play’s Sarah, along with Thomas Haden Church (Easy A) and Paul Scheer.
Production
Sean Anders (Dumb And Dumber To) has directed the film, from a story by Brian Burns for Paramount Pictures.
First impressions
We’re usually suckers for Will Ferrell comedies, but if we’re being brutally honest we’re struggling to find enough reasons to come around to Daddy’s Home. The trailer does little to instill us with much confidence in its comedy value, the narrow cast list puts a bit too much emphasis on the rivalry alone and the stunts look contrived and lacking in the perfect weighting and timing that would have improved the slapstick element of the film.
