Father Figures

Movie review by Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media
Father Figures Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 16+

Raunchy, unfunny comedy might have been better as a drama.

R 2017 113 minutes
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Parents say

age 16+

Based on 6 reviews

Kids say

age 13+

Based on 2 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Father Figures is a raunchy comedy about twin brothers (Owen Wilson and Ed Helms) who go on a road trip to discover their birth father's identity. Violence (often played for laughs) includes fighting, cars hitting people, trains crashing into cars, and guns. Language is quite strong, with many uses of "f--k," "c--k," "p---y," and much more. The entire plot of the movie is based on the notion that a woman was so promiscuous in the 1970s that she doesn't know who her sons' birth father is. There's also passionate kissing, strong sexual innuendo, cleavage and people shown without their shirts, and a suggested hookup in a hotel room. A character drinks while sad; there's also social drinking and mention of "getting high." The movie relies on dumb, gross, forced humor, but it does eventually generate at least a little bit of sympathy for its characters (before an insulting epilogue).

Community Reviews

Yvonne W.
Yvonne W. Adult
July 27, 2018
age 17+

Not a male version of Mama Mia

I watched this movie with my 13 year old son on the airplane while we were looking for a comedy together. We loved Mama Mia and my son thought reading the description it sounds just like it. Besides the raunchy humor mentioned by other reviews, this is another relationship bonding road trip USA. Owen has not changed in all the comedies he's made, not even his haircut. He is no different from his character in Wedding Crashers. Not interesting, no personal values nor standards, and the movie constantly ridiculed his twin brother proctologist for being a hardworking, school going, responsible parent. What?! Football star Terry Bradshaw makes an appearance that reminded us of Ditka in Will Ferrell's Kicking and Screaming, but with the sex lifestyle of pro football players in the back of our minds, reminiscing the 1970s is not that funny. I unplugged the audio on my son's earphones when Ving Rhames' character remembered Glenn Close's character back in the 1970s. What a waste of a great actor when my son had watched his magnificent performance in Master Harold and the boys. We didn't finish the movie. There could've been potential for more humor if they were clever enough to see the differences between the 2 brothers rather than celebrating the loser and putting down the doctor's responsible routine lifestyle.

This title has:

Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
Lisa H.
Lisa H. Adult
April 9, 2018
age 16+

Couldn’t make it to the end

Very raunchy and tasteless comedy. I was even embarrassed to watch with my fiancée. Definitely not for children.
See all 6 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In FATHER FIGURES, Peter Reynolds (Ed Helms) is disappointed with his life. He's divorced, his son seems to loathe him, and he can't stand his job as a proctologist. He goes to his mother's (Glenn Close) wedding and runs into his twin brother, Kyle (Owen Wilson), who seems to have the perfect life (and a perfect girlfriend) in Hawaii. Peter learns that the man he thought was his father actually isn't, and that Peter and Kyle's biological father could be one of several men ("it was the 1970s," says their mom), including football legend Terry Bradshaw. So Peter and Kyle set out on a road trip to discover the truth, meeting Bradshaw's next-door neighbor (Ving Rhames), picking up a friendly hitchhiker (Katt Williams), and meeting several other paternal candidates, including a "repo man" (J.K. Simmons) and a veterinarian (Christopher Walken). But the truth is far more complicated.

Is It Any Good?

This almost totally fails as a comedy, with broad, unfunny, dumb jokes (such as Wilson and a young boy urinating on each other), though it's marginally better during the goopy, heartwarming parts. Father Figures relies on the narrowest, laziest definitions of characters imaginable, and the humor that springs from them always seems forced, as if the jokes had been shoehorned into place. One so-called running gag is that Bradshaw constantly ignores Kyle and pays attention only to Peter. The movie never explains why, nor why that's supposed to be funny.

As Father Figures goes along, however, it seems to start caring about the two brothers. Some of the characters' exchanges without jokes come fairly close to sounding real and heartfelt. The climax is, impressively, not an easy solution, and it makes for a couple of very nice moments while the brothers process it. Perhaps this could have been better as an indie drama? (À la Jeff, Who Lives at Home, also with Helms.) Unfortunately, the movie blows its encouraging ending with an embarrassing, insulting "one year later" epilogue.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Father Figures' use of sex and sexual situations. Even if not much graphic stuff is shown, what makes the various situations sexual in nature? Are there positive representations of sex in the movie?

  • How does the movie depict alcohol use? Does anyone drink to avoid or forget problems? Is alcohol glamorized?

  • What do the characters learn about themselves? Do you consider any of them role models?

  • Does this movie use stereotypes? If so, how? Is that OK?

Movie Details

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