Entertainment
Raunchy, R-Rated Comedy Is A Perverse Take On The Family Dynamic
By Robert Scucci
| Published
If you thought Mrs. Doubtfire was a problematic film about a father figure pretending to be somebody he isn’t in order to get closer to his estranged children, then you need to anté up and feast your eyes on 2022’s I Love My Dad. A catfishing comedy that’s as wholesome as it is disgusting, this James Morosini vehicle is allegedly based on events from the writer/director’s real life, which for his sake I hope is an exaggerated recounting because it goes hard with its creep factor.
This wild ride of fatherly love in the form of misguided manipulation will make you cringe so intensely you’ll bite your hand once you run out of fingernails to chomp on, but it will also hit you with an unexpected wave of warmth at the exact moment you realize just how messed up its premise really is.
Uneasy to the point where laughing becomes your only defense mechanism, I Love My Dad will make you rethink online dating because you truly never know who is on the other end of those early messages. You may not want to find out, especially after getting just a little too cozy with your long-distance relationship.
A Digital Doubtfire
Patton Oswalt is Chuck in I Love My Dad, an absent father who wants back into his son Franklin’s (James Morosini) life after proving time and time again that he’s an incompetent dad. Keeping tabs on Franklin through his ex-wife, Diane (Amy Landecker), Chuck convinces himself it’s a good idea to create a fake social media profile posing as Becca (Claudia Sulewski), a local waitress living in his small Maine town. Ignoring warnings from his coworker Jimmy (Lil Rel Howery), Chuck reaches out to Franklin, and the two immediately hit it off.
This is fantastic news for Franklin, who sees a therapist (Ricky Pak) for confidence issues that clearly stem from his strained relationship with his father. Completely unaware that he is being catfished by Chuck, Franklin falls head-over-heels for Becca. Their online relationship escalates quickly through intimate text exchanges that Chuck manages with the help of his coworker and romantic interest, Erica (Rachel Dratch).
When Franklin decides he wants to travel to Maine to meet Becca in person, Chuck’s scheme begins to collapse. He now has to share motel rooms with his son on the road while maintaining the lie, hoping this bizarre charade will somehow repair their relationship.
It’s Not What, It’s How
As messed up as the story is in I Love My Dad, there is a strange layer of wholesomeness that makes everything even more stomach-turning. Whenever Franklin opens up to Becca, he imagines her physically sitting next to him. They talk through past traumas, confide in each other, and sometimes things get hot and heavy. It drives home how deeply Franklin is falling for someone who does not exist and is, in reality, his father.
Some of the film’s funniest beats come from Chuck struggling to process these conversations. He knows he is texting from the other room and that the real Becca has no idea Franklin exists. Watching him squirm as he imagines his son kissing him while he types replies is comedy gold, even though you immediately regret laughing.
Like Mrs. Doubtfire, when good intentions morph into horrific manipulation, Chuck and Franklin finally start connecting. Chuck keeps encouraging Franklin to pursue Becca because the relationship is pulling Franklin out of his shell and making him more confident. Terrible father or not, he is trying to fix things, which forces him to keep the scam going even as the real Becca, unknowingly dragged into this situation, lives far too close for comfort.
Such A Sick Way To Bond
I Love My Dad may seem like a cruel exercise in cringe comedy, but it’s a surprisingly sweet look at how far someone will go to be close to their family. On one hand, you sympathize with Chuck for trying and failing in spectacular fashion. But once you realize the emotional damage he is actively inflicting, it becomes nearly impossible to root for him. Franklin, who is such a gentle, eager kid trying to find his place in the world, doesn’t deserve to be manipulated like this. The happiness he feels when connecting with Becca is heartbreaking because you know it is built on a lie.
Chuck is so convincing that even as a fully informed viewer, it’s easy to momentarily fall for the romance, only to snap back into reality and remember that Franklin is cyber-diddling his dad.
Balancing the wholesome with the deeply messed up, I Love My Dad is the kind of movie that makes you laugh and gasp at the same time. If you want to watch Chuck push this lie to the breaking point, you can stream it now on Hulu.
