There was a time when I used to think that everything Will Ferrell made was comedic gold. I’m reminiscing on the early 2000’s when he made comedies like Old School, Elf, and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. There was even a film in 2006 called Stranger Than Fiction which I still consider to be his best serious role.
Then I kind of got burned out on Ferrell’s type of humor; everything seemed to be really similar, and it was like he was doing the same shtick in all of his movies. I started passing on many of the movies that he put out afterwards such as Land of the Lost, and I even "noped" on Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues despite being a fan of the original; I was tired of getting the same thing in every movie.
As of late, I’ve found Ferrell’s comedies to be more enjoyable, as they don’t seem to rely so heavily on his shtick, and others are given the opportunity to shine on the screen. 2015 brought Daddy’s Home, a comedy involving Ferrell playing the stepfather to Mark Whalberg’s children. The back and forth between Ferrell and Whalberg is worth a DVD rental if you haven’t seen it.
Director Sean Anders returns to direct the sequel, this time adding several stars to his lineup including John Lithgow, Mel Gibson, and Jon Cena. This time around, Whalberg and Ferrell are a well-oiled machine of co-parenting, however, despite their perceived successes, the children feel like their family is still split, especially around the holidays. As a result, they decide to have a “Together Christmas” where both families get together to celebrate the holiday season.
Lithgow plays the father of Ferrell; Lithgow is a motor-mouth who overly coddles the adult Ferrell, much to the disgust of Gibson’s character (the father of Whalberg). Gibson, a womanizer who continues to lack affection towards his son, seems to be disgusted by the efficiency of Ferrell and Whalberg’s co-parenting and decides to sabotage them. The addition of Gibson and Lithgow reminds me of the Meet the Parents brand that added Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand in the sequel Meet the Fockers. It took an already ripe brand and added more comedic value to the cast, rather than trying to milk the original for all that it could.
Although this movie is quite predictable, I don’t go into a comedy movie expecting to have plot twists and turns. I know what I’m getting into. I know how the movie is going to end most times. The thing that’s most important to me is whether I’m going to laugh my way to the ending, or roll my eyes anticipating all of the punchlines. I’d say this movie has more laughs than it does eye rolls (although there are a fair share of them). Hey Hollywood: jokes about millennials being on their cellphones aren’t really that funny! We get it. Just thought I’d add that. If you watch this movie, you’ll see what I mean.