Parents' Guide to Old Dads

Midlife men get the Bad Moms or Wine Country treatment in a comedy that captures some nail-on-the-head intergenerational social quirks but ultimately falls into some of its own traps. Old Dads director/co-writer/star Burr understands the hypocrisy of some behavior among both millennials and Gen Xers, and there are a handful of very funny lines here. These on-pitch moments include scenarios like when a phony school principal draws parallels between a spat with a parent and the Rwandan genocide, when hidden cameras are used to catch people in private spaces saying offensive things, when one White man tells another to "check his privilege," or when a party settles on a "No Theme" theme to avoid upsetting anyone.

There's a whole generation of people "just trying to not get in trouble," Jack whines, and you can see his point. Likewise, the buddies' sexist conversations (Cannavale has the cringiest lines) and anger issues are shown as clearly antiquated. The problem is that as the three dig themselves deeper into their toxic masculine corners, so does the movie. A drug- and alcohol-fueled road trip to a strip club feels, well, straight out of an 1980s movie. Surely that's part of the point, but it underscores that, like their old dads, the filmmakers might not really believe much has improved in society in the last 40 years -- just that they need to get on board or risk becoming truly isolated. It's like an argument with someone who has to have the last word. Old Dads' main audience will likely look, act, and see the world as its three leads do.