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LIKE FATHER: Surprisingly Effective Father-Daughter Journey

LIKE FATHER: Surprisingly Effective Father-Daughter Journey

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LIKE FATHER: Surprisingly Effective Father-Daughter Journey

If you’re a frequent viewer of Netflix Original movies, watching Like Father might cause an inadvertent sense of déjà vu. When I read the concept for Lauren Miller Rogen‘s directorial debut, I thought to myself, “Didn’t I just watch a movie about the personal adventures of a father and his estranged child?” It felt unshakably familiar.

Yes, the Netflix-distributed Kodachrome was released back in April, but don’t let that keep you from watching Like Father. While the Jason Sudeikis and Ed Harris-led drama was more of a tragedy in nature, Miller Rogen‘s film keeps its feet planted firmly in the realm of comedy. The film explores enough serious material to earn its dramatic heft, but it keeps the tonal balance under control in an impressive way.

The result is a genuinely enjoyable late summer outing, a movie that delivers a solid mixture of heartfelt moments and amusing sequences. Sure, there are more than a few cliches, but Like Father is the kind of low-key charmer that might surprise you.

Fantasy Wedding Gone Wrong

Rachel (Kristen Bell) is a major workaholic, but even her boss (Brett Gelman) is encouraging her to take a few days to enjoy her wedding. In the minutes leading up to her walk down the aisle, Rachel is fielding calls from clients and prepping for a meeting, doing her best to pay attention to the wedding at the same time.

When Rachel accidentally drops her phone (which she hides in a bouquet of flowers) during the ceremony, her fiancé, Owen (Jon Foster), loses it. Deciding that he just can’t handle playing second fiddle to Rachel’s work, Owen abruptly calls off the wedding.

LIKE FATHER: Surprisingly Effective Father-Daughter Journey
source: Netflix

And then Harry (Kelsey Grammer), Rachel’s estranged father, shows up. The wedding is a total disaster, and to make matters even worse, a man Rachel hasn’t spoken to in 25 years is now back in her life. A day later, Harry shows up at Rachel’s apartment. They get good and drunk, surprisingly enjoying each other’s company for the first time.

The next morning, Rachel and Harry wake up on a cruise ship. Originally, Rachel was supposed to enjoy a honeymoon cruise to Jamaica with Owen, but she’s now stuck on a boat with her father for 10 days. With no cell signal, no suitcases, and no escape from the perils of vacation cruising, Rachel is forced to “enjoy” her trip. But what starts out as a nightmare evolves into something meaningful, as the young professional embraces the chance to re-connect with the man she never really knew.

Lightweight Dramedy With A Deft Touch

Generally speaking, Like Father is not full of surprises. You go into a movie like this with the knowledge that it won’t be doing anything revolutionary, existing more as lighthearted comfort food than anything else. You’re probably aware of the familiar tropes on display, and you’ll know when the film is trying to twist your emotions into a pretzel. And of course, you know it’ll all end happily ever after, even if it’s a rocky road to get there.

LIKE FATHER: Surprisingly Effective Father-Daughter Journey
source: Netflix

Within this surprise-proof package, Like Father manages to surprise in a different kind of way. There may be no novel twists or turns, but this is an unexpectedly compelling and touching experience. It starts out as the type of movie you throw on as background noise, growing more and more effective with every new interaction between Rachel and Harry. As the film’s emotional catharsis approached, I was hooked.

Miller Rogen is a smart filmmaker and a strong writer, and she understands that it won’t be easy to make viewers care about Rachel and Harry. Neither character is likable in the traditional sense of the word, almost to the point that it feels like they’re designed to be as irksome as possible at times. Thankfully, the film doesn’t take any shortcuts in developing authentic emotion, slowly but surely drawing the viewer in with each tender moment.

Breezy Pacing & Impressive Performances

It helps when Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammer are leading the show. I feel like the film is unusually harsh on Rachel’s workaholic tendencies, constantly poking fun at her cell phone addiction and inability to let loose. It feels like a harsh way to judge a woman who is truly dedicated to her career, but I might just feel that way because I, too, am on my phone all the time.

Nonetheless, Bell makes the most of it, adding shades of gray to a character who could be fairly straight-forward in the hands of a less talented performer. Rachel makes a nice shift from being unpleasant and disagreeable to existing as complex, sympathetic individual.

LIKE FATHER: Surprisingly Effective Father-Daughter Journey
source: Netflix

Harry is almost too nice for a guy who walked out on his daughter at such a young age, but it works, mostly thanks to Grammer‘s boundless charisma. If Like Father is too hard on Rachel for her addiction to climbing the business ladder, it’s too soft on Harry for his previous choices. The rationale for his behavior as a younger man feels somewhat shaky, but the film skates by with some really nice moments.

The supporting cast is led by Seth Rogen (Miller Rogen‘s husband), playing against type as a dopey guy who claims to have never smoked weed, and Paul W. Downs, who continues to prove that he’s a rising star.

Miller Rogen keeps things light and loose for much of the running time, letting the other shoe drop on a major plot revelation at just the right time. Plus, she makes the most of the gorgeous Caribbean locales and the enormous cruise liner, staging some amusing little scenes to offset some of the weightier material.

Like Father: Conclusion

It’s ironic that Bell leads the movie, considering that it feels like a less raunchy twist on the Forgetting Sarah Marshall formula (Bell played the titular character in the film). Ultimately, this works as a nice addition to the vacation sub-genre, where people run away from their problems on a tropical getaway and end up finding themselves along the way. And as someone who has never had any desire to go on a cruise, this little movie made me want to hop on a boat and sail the open sea.

Like Father is not a radical or subversive family comedy, but the cast has good chemistry, the story moves along nicely, and the big, tear-jerking moments make an impact. By the end, it surpasses its modest ambitions. Benefiting from low expectations and an appealing lead duo, Miller Rogen‘s debut project is a pleasant August treat.

What did you think of Like Father? Are you a fan of Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammer? Comment below and let us know!

Like Father was release worldwide on Netflix on August 3. 

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