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Father Figures
The 2017 comedy Father Figures does provide some solid laughs even though it takes a little too long to get to a surprise ending I didn't see coming.
Owen Wilson and Ed Helms play fraternal twins who attend their mother's wedding and learn that they have been lied to about their father since childhood and set out on a journey to meet their real father, who their mother has told them is Terry Bradshaw. What starts out as a road trip to track down Terry Bradshaw turns into much more when Bradshaw is revealed not to be their father after all.
Justin Malen's screenplay does provide some funny dialogue and situations for two brothers who couldn't be more unlike each other, which piques our curiosity about what's going to happen and puts us behind these guys and their mission, but the mission just takes a little too long and there are a couple of detours revolving unresolved sibling rivalry issues and current financial and romantic issues that take a little too much focus off the story and make the story a little more labored than it really needed to be, This labored journey is almost made up for by a lovely bittersweet conclusion that brought logic and closure to a story that got more and more muddled as the story progressed, a double reverse ending that I didn't see coming at all.
Director Lawrence Sher does make up for the meandering story by fueling it with some serious star power. Wilson and Helms are very funny together and Glenn Close is lovely as their mom. In addition to Bradshaw, Ving Rhames, and Oscar winners JK Simmons and Christopher Walken have funny turns as the possible dad in question and there are a couple of cute cameos by Katt Williams as a hitchhiker and Ali Wong as a medical assistant. The story is a little fuzzy and overlong, but the film certainly has star power and the ending is a winner.
The 2017 comedy Father Figures does provide some solid laughs even though it takes a little too long to get to a surprise ending I didn't see coming.
Owen Wilson and Ed Helms play fraternal twins who attend their mother's wedding and learn that they have been lied to about their father since childhood and set out on a journey to meet their real father, who their mother has told them is Terry Bradshaw. What starts out as a road trip to track down Terry Bradshaw turns into much more when Bradshaw is revealed not to be their father after all.
Justin Malen's screenplay does provide some funny dialogue and situations for two brothers who couldn't be more unlike each other, which piques our curiosity about what's going to happen and puts us behind these guys and their mission, but the mission just takes a little too long and there are a couple of detours revolving unresolved sibling rivalry issues and current financial and romantic issues that take a little too much focus off the story and make the story a little more labored than it really needed to be, This labored journey is almost made up for by a lovely bittersweet conclusion that brought logic and closure to a story that got more and more muddled as the story progressed, a double reverse ending that I didn't see coming at all.
Director Lawrence Sher does make up for the meandering story by fueling it with some serious star power. Wilson and Helms are very funny together and Glenn Close is lovely as their mom. In addition to Bradshaw, Ving Rhames, and Oscar winners JK Simmons and Christopher Walken have funny turns as the possible dad in question and there are a couple of cute cameos by Katt Williams as a hitchhiker and Ali Wong as a medical assistant. The story is a little fuzzy and overlong, but the film certainly has star power and the ending is a winner.