REVIEW: “Father Figures” falls flat

By Lauren Keck
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

“Father Figures” is the father of bad movies. It is unoriginal and lacking the necessary ingredient that makes a bad movie worth it.

“Father Figures,” directed by Lawrence Sher, follows two brothers in search of their father after finding out their mother (Glenn Close) had lied about their father’s death.

Peter Reynolds (Ed Helms) is a serious, sad divorcee with a son. He hates his job and his son seems to hate him. Kyle Reynolds (Owen Wilson), Peter’s brother, is an easy going guy that lives a lavish life in Hawaii with his beautiful girlfriend.

Peter and Kyle find out that their father is not who they were told. Their mother confesses that their father could be a large number of men because she partied a lot in the 70’s, so the brothers set out on a road trip to find their father.

They go from possible father to possible father while facing strange hurdles around every turn.There are mushy feelings throughout the film about fatherhood and brotherhood. They are sweet but hard to take seriously in this try-hard comedy.

The jokes rarely land and often leave awkward silences afterwards where laughter should come, but doesn’t. Many of the jokes seem forced or don’t really make any sense.There are some jokes so absurd that they may earn a few laughs due to their ridiculousness.

Wilson plays a character he has already played many times over, in movies like “Zoolander” and “Drillbit Taylor.” He brings nothing new to the film through his usual character.

A twist at the end is surprising and sentimental, but the awkward humor ruins it’s potential of being truly inspiring.

“Father Figures” fails to fully accomplish either sentiment or comedy. This is the type of movie to watch for free at 3 a.m. when you are sleep deprived, bored and feel like wasting two hours and five minutes of your life.