Will Ferrell's and Mark Wahlberg's family(ish) comedy did not live up to expectation. I had expected this big, grand, spectacularly hilarious movie, but it really wasn't. The story was about brad (Will Ferrell), who married the woman of his dreams and became a stepdad to her children-which he loved. Will Ferrell was super excited to be a dad, but his step kids weren't too happy about it. Eventually though, they embrace their new father. Then, Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) , their biological father rolls into town on his shiny new motorcycle. Of course, the kids are totally taken with him, and, after trying unsuccessfully to set boundaries and make amends with Dusty, Brad feels that he must challenge Dusty for the favor of his family, even though no one showed any sign of liking Dusty more. Most of the jokes were just silly, fake looking, pain related gags. I realize that, to some people, these types of things are hilarious (at least they were to the woman sitting next to me, who laughed very loudly every time this happened), but it just wasn't to me. One scene, where Will Ferrell gets drunk and tries to show his family how much he loves him by shooting (throwing?) a basketball, was obviously supposed to be funny but to me was just sad. There were only two parts of this movie that I really enjoyed. 1: Every interaction with Griffin was funny. He'd be in the background looking for food, or watching Frozen, and his character was completely random and unnecessary but I loved him. 2: The ending was spectacular. Once they got to the Daddy-Daughter Dance and the action started, I was laughing so hard I was crying. The conclusion wasn't very funny, but it was satisfying and the surprise guest star was an amazing touch.
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Picture from: http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSz77cfQxeiyu4O3ei9wAnnlJOPILPke-Npz1YMC57CWrRGRRjf