There’s a famous song by Garth Brooks, “I’ve Got Friends in Low Places” and if he changed the lyric from Friends to Films that would be the perfect description for my affection for Daddy’s Home 2. Hey, on a Friday night after running three miles, lunching with an ambivalent date, working six hours and walking a half hour to and fro to work, a silly comedy with a sweet friend is really quite satisfying.
Sure, Daddy’s Home 2 isn’t a cerebral challenge and I could have gone without the physically violent slapstick moments, but fortunately the dialogue was pretty sharp. Not surprising since Sean Anders and Brian Burns also co-wrote one of the most satisfying comedies of recent note, Meet the Millers.
Mel Gibson plays a great cad, John Lithgow a lovable old nerd and I laugh at simply looking at Will Ferrell. Mark Wahlberg, even in his inability to hide behind his larger than life personality, is hard to resist.
The ladies are very solid as well and I kept racking my brain wondering where I had seen Linda Cardellini before. I’m thinking it had to be The Founder or Welcome to Me though she looks like she could be Ellen Page’s older sister. Alessandro Ambrosia is gorgeous and is probably acting her little brains out.
The cameos were cute and I won’t give them away. Best of all the message was a positive one, that we need to love one another in spite of our differences AND even more importantly, we need to step up and shut up regarding stupid worries and hand wringing, be them familial or political, and simply be grateful for what we have for the sake of our children or if you don’t have kids, for the sake of the child still inside of you. And I certainly can’t dismiss a movie based on that gorgeous idea.
Last being a sucker for sentimental music, what Meet the Millers did for “Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls”, Daddy’s Home 2 does for “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”. Love it, love it!
Happy Holidays!
