Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
James Morosini, Patton Oswalt, Rachel Dratch, Lil Rel Howery
Intro:
... somewhere beneath the embarrassment humour and awkwardness so palpable it verges on unwatchable, the father-son relationship at the film’s core is surprisingly moving.
After one disappointment too many, estranged dad Chuck (Patton Oswalt) finds himself blocked on social media by his son Franklin (James Morosini). In a desperate bid to regain access to Franklin’s life, Chuck invents the perfect Facebook profile — a young, pretty waitress named Becca (Claudia Sulewski) — to catfish his son into speaking to him again.
Unfortunately, the plan works, some might say uncomfortably well: Franklin falls head over heels for Becca and Chuck realises his foolproof plan might just have made things a whole lot worse.
A cringe comedy, perhaps the most disturbing thing about writer/director and star James Morosini’s film is the fact that he based it around a real life experience with his own father!
Patton Oswalt brings a bumbling sensitivity to the role, a kind of genuine warmth that is crucial to making his character, if not relatable, then at the very least understandable. Chuck’s actions stem from a place of love and concern for his troubled son, and for all his schemes and manipulations, the fact that he means well is never in doubt — despite his scene stealing co-worker Jimmy’s (Lil Rel Howery) very vocal critique of his life choices.
It’s Morosini’s second outing as director of a feature film, yet his proficiency both in front and behind the camera is evident in his clever framing of the online conversations between Franklin and Becca a.k.a Chuck.
For a story in which the majority of the plot unfolds over Facebook messenger, Morosini does a masterful job of ensuring we’re never able to forget just who’s responsible for the messages making Franklin blush and twirl his hair, filming each conversation like it’s unfolding in person, inserting Becca into the scene then swapping her out for Chuck at exactly the right moment to make the audience squirm.
Still, somewhere beneath the embarrassment humour and awkwardness so palpable it verges on unwatchable, the father-son relationship at the film’s core is surprisingly moving. It’s excruciating torture, darkly funny, but despite the title and the timing, perhaps not the ideal choice for viewing with the family.
