by Lisa Nystrom
Worth: $13.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Michael Keaton, Mila Kunis, Jacob Kopera, Vivien Lyra-Blair, Kevin Pollak
Intro:
… an unexpected emotional punch that will have you subtly wiping your eyes by the time the credits roll.
Michael Keaton stars as Andy Goodrich, a workaholic art dealer so focused on the job that he didn’t realise his wife was struggling with pill addiction. When she checks herself into rehab with no warning, Andy is left to pick up the slack as a father of two young children, and a third fully grown daughter (Mila Kunis), about to become a first-time parent herself.
While the plot similarities to Keaton’s 1983 comedy Mr Mom are undeniable, society has come a long way in those 41 years, to the point where the premise of a dad parenting his own children, trying to remember their food allergies and school teacher’s name and struggling because it’s the kind of stuff mum always did and he just took for granted, doesn’t come across quite as comedic or charming as it once might have. Thankfully, Goodrich isn’t trying to recreate those same John Hughes hijinks, but rather, approaches Andy’s situation with the understanding that he needs to grow up and take responsibility, something that he has avoided his entire adult life.
This is a coming-of-(middle) age film, and while humour absolutely has its place, Andy’s story is told with real heart and genuine insight into his Peter Pan-like mindset. Keaton’s engaging and charismatic energy means that you can never truly come down too hard on Andy for all his faults. Skilled at making connections in the business world but not so much when it comes to connecting with his own family, he does genuinely seem to be trying. It’s just that, as Andy points out, he’s better at helping people when they explicitly tell him how to do it.
The two sides to Andy’s story — learning to navigate his relationships while simultaneously keeping his business afloat, are tied together via his relationship with his eldest daughter Grace (Mila Kunis). Kunis does a commendable job at portraying Grace’s vulnerability, her low-boiling anger and her stubborn resilience, all with a limited amount of on-screen development. Grace’s relationship with her father, as rocky as it is, is the film’s one constant. Their interactions, strained and distant at first before moving towards something real, pack an unexpected emotional punch that will have you subtly wiping your eyes by the time the credits roll.
