Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg are back as the hilarious daddy-duo, Brad and Dusty, in this funny holiday-themed sequel. Brad (Farrell) and Dusty (Wahlberg) have put aside their differences from the first film and are now the loving, attentive co-patriarchs of a flourishing blended family. Brad is the sensitive, nearly perfect and morally upright stepdad to tough-and-cool Dusty’s two children, while Dusty is now the stepfather of tech-obsessed, apathetic Adriana. All seems to be well as the family runs like a well-oiled machine, with Brad, Dusty and their wives at the helm—until a shocking confession from their children: they hate having two Christmases. Determined to have a “together Christmas,” Dusty and Brad arrange for one unified family holiday but are unprepared for the arrival of their own fathers. Dusty’s pedantic and crude father Kurt (Mel Gibson) is completely mismatched for Brad’s own optimistic, sensitive father Don (John Lithgow). Meanwhile, issues between fathers and sons extend to issues in Dusty and Brad’s own friendship—and with the added complication of Adriana’s dad, Roger (John Cena), it seems their “together Christmas” is more out of reach than ever.
There are a lot of things to love about Daddy’s Home 2! It is laugh-out-loud funny and has a great focus on family and friendship. Kudos to the writers and filmmakers for creating a father-centered story. With generations of well-meaning (often misguided) dads who truly love their kids, it is a subject so often overlooked in films these days. Reconciliation, friendship, and love are major subjects for the film, but it is also laced with so much additional content—slapstick comedy, crude remarks, sidetracked story telling—it feels like the main points are not fully brought out. I do give them major props for drastically reducing the mature content from this sequel, but it appears they spent more time trying to be funny and not enough time rounding out the story. Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg make a great comedic team, and with the addition of veteran actors Mel Gibson and John Lithgow, this battle of the dads makes for great entertainment. I really like that the film gave viewers an honest, somewhat exaggerated view of father/son relationships and how they influence the family unit. Some moments in the film were quite touching as they dive into the dynamics of blended families and all the love and conflict that go along with them. However, throughout the film many characters bully, betray, and deceive each other without any real consequences or resolution. Although it has a happy ending, the issues that cause the conflict are never fully addressed, and much of the poor behavior is not dealt with (especially concerning the drunken children and destruction of property). All in all, Daddy’s Home ” is a hilarious slapstick Christmas movie with heartwarming moments that never quite depart from the superficial. The film aims for family friendly, but falls short due to its crude language and overall content. For this reason, we are unable to award Daddy’s Home 2 the Dove Seal of Approval.