‘Daddy’s Home’ Trailer: Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell Wage Dad War
Will Ferrell is never not busy, which means that he’s never pinned down. He may be a successful solo movie star, but he’s a man of many partnerships, never missing an opportunity to share the screen with a variety of co-stars. With the arrival of Daddy’s Home, Ferrell hopes to bring his onscreen partnership with Mark Wahlberg to John C. Reilly-ian levels. Hopefully, the movie itself is funnier than the new trailer. After all, the last time these two teamed up, we got the massively underrated The Other Guys.
The basic concept of Daddy’s Home is ludicrously simple. Ferrell plays a mild-mannered stepfather whose home is invaded by his wife’s much cooler ex-husband (played by Wahlberg). The men develop an instant rivalry and battle for the love and affection of the children. Naturally, things escalate and people are soon crashing motorcycles through walls and throwing basketballs at the heads of cheerleaders. All of this is set to a soundtrack of grown men screaming and AC/DC.
And it looks fine, like a totally middle-of-the-road entry in the Ferrell canon. The unfortunate truth is that we’re going to instantly compare this thing to The Other Guys simply because it utilized this duo so well. But that movie had the golden touch of Adam McKay and Daddy’s Home has the slightly tarnished touch of Sean Anders and John Morris, who have written and directed comedies that range from pretty good (We’re the Millers) to inexcusable (That’s My Boy). The lack of truly inspired jokes in this trailer is worrisome – Ferrell can only fall down and embarrass himself in so many ways.
Daddy’s Home is set to open on December 25, 2015.