Every Father's Worst Nightmare..."Why Him?"

Why Him? (2016)

Rated R

Starring Zoey Deutch, James Franco, Bryan Cranston, Megan Mulally, Griffin Gluck, Keegan-Michael Key,

Directed by John Hamburg

The Story:

Stephanie (Deutch) invites her family out to visit her at Stanford for the holidays. When they arrive, they meet Laird (Franco), her millionaire boyfriend that she's been keeping a secret for months. This doesn't sit too well with her father (Cranston) and when he realizes that Laird wants to pop the question, well daddy's going to do whatever it takes to keep his daughter safe.

Here's the bottom line:  it's crude and it's stupid.

But...

It's also very funny and underneath the f-bombs and bluster is a comedy with a well-meaning heart of gold.

What wins you over is the cast who play their characters perfectly and imbue them all full bodied personality and not just one dimensional cardboard cutouts.

Cranston, as usual, is superb, and a far departure from dramatic roles proves he can pull off straight comedy with ease.

Franco is his comedic foil and plays the slacker millionaire perfectly.

He's not a bad guy, he's just awkward around people, and the results are often hilarious.

I would also be remiss to not single out Keegan-Michael Key as the right hand man that keeps everything in Laird's world running on time.

He also provides Laird with his own personal Kato in the film.

Now, if you don't get that reference, that's a shame, but it's also a running joke in the film as well, and it was hilarious.

It also shows that you're apparently old enough to be the dad, and congratulations, that means your daughters will be bringing 'him' home soon enough.

Good luck!

:)

Final Grade: C+ 

A Coming Of Age Gem..."The Kings Of Summer"

The Kings of Summer (2013)

Rated R

Starring Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mulally, Mark Evan Jackson,

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts

The Story:

Joe (Robinson) and Patrick (Basso) are two friends who are fed up with their respective parents. So Joe comes up with a great plan: they move to the woods and build their own house. So they do. Joining them on their adventure is Biaggio (Arias) and the three have a great time at first. But the lives of teenagers are like weather patterns, and are due to change at any minute...

Usually in these films, it's the preteens that run away on an adventure, but in this case, the kids are high schoolers who have clearly had enough.

Both have parents that simply grate on the kid's nerves, but the parents also have the best dialogue in the movie.

The boys carry most of the movie with camaraderie and a bond that carries through onscreen.

When the bond is severed, you feel bad for all involved because nobody was truly at fault for how it happens.

Again, nothing earth-shattering happens, but I have to leave films like this vague in my descriptions because it's easy to ruin the whole thing with just a few sentences.

It's an evolution of the characters, and Basso and Robinson do a great job of holding our interest and making the most of every scene they have.

Currently streaming on Amazon Prime as of this writing.

Final Grade: B