Review of Father Figures (2017) by Connor S — 27 Dec 2017

It's pretty infuriating that our theater dropped The Disaster Artist for this comedic black hole. That Father Figures is the only movie we had that didn't do well here is proof enough that it really is that bad and I'm not just some upset The Room fanboy.

Father Figures falls into the same trap that many R-rated comedies falls into: it thinks its humor can get by on shock value alone. That's all there is to it. There is no witty writing nor expert delivery. The filmmakers, if they can even be called that, seem to set out to offend our sensibilities more and more with each new scene. Contrary to their beliefs, a good vulgar joke isn't good because of its vulgarity; it's good because it has the elements of a good joke. Those elements are as present in this movie as an absentee dad.

That I didn't notice anything remarkable about the movie's other aspects would usually be a red flag, but in something as appalling as Father Figures, that's a plus. This also means that there's nothing to hold up this movie's many negatives. Besides the unfunny humor, the lead actors are simply not believable as twin brothers. Twins don't have to be clones of each other, but Owen Wilson and Ed Helms play completely different types of characters. It's simply impossible to accept them as brothers, much like it's impossible to accept Father Figures as a comedy.