by Jacob Kinman, Contributing Writer
Bill Burr is perhaps one of America’s most renowned and well-known comedians, mounting multiple arena tours and releasing several albums and specials over the years. He has always maintained a certain persona, one that brushes up against the status quo and uses his angry and bold style to make his point.
In a standup context, this is hilarious. As a movie, it is not.
Old Dads is Burr’s directorial debut, who also stars as Jack Kelly, a — wait for it — old dad who is trying to keep up with the changing society and the challenges it brings, especially as a parent of a young son, Nate (Dash McCloud). He owns a jersey company with his friends, Connor (Bobby Cannavale) and Mike (Bokeem Woodbine), that is sold to Aspen Bell (Miles Robbins), a ridiculous characterization of a millennial who then fires every employee in the company over 35 — quick sidebar: That’s a bit over the top, right? Why even put that in the movie? Because millennials are all evil and want to undermine anything that came before them? It’s just comes off as some sort of boomer fantasy idea of that generation. And Burr isn’t even a boomer!
Sorry, I digress. You know a movie is bad when you’re criticizing it during the plot description.
The film, while mainly following Jack and his journey through a strange new society, also follows Connor and Mike in their parenting journeys. Connor has a son, Colin (Dominic Grey Gonzalez), who is uncontrollable, and Connor tries to do his best with the situation, while his wife, Cara (Jackie Tohn) uses a different approach to reprimanding him that Connor disagrees with, eventually leading to a rift between the two families. Mike has two adult sons, but ends up impregnating his young girlfriend Britney (Reign Edwards), and navigates being unprepared for that. Jack’s wife, Leah (Katie Aselton), is also pregnant, and is by far the voice of reason in her and Jack’s relationship, constantly telling Jack he needs therapy, and does he ever, due to his angry outbursts at completely rational things.
The sensibilities of this movie, that toxic masculinity reigns and any application of emotional intelligence or intuition should be removed from parenting, is not one that resonates with me. Burr’s message has always been about longing for some forgotten time where kids could run free without supervision and you can say whatever you want, but that’s not how it is anymore. Making a movie that tries to convince people that this is the right way is going to fall flat for any audience who actually embraces change.
It’s not enjoyable at all to watch Jack rage against progress and the youths for this entire movie. He just comes off as a whiny Gen X loser who wants things to stay the same so he doesn’t have to change. And to think this movie is actually speaking to people. It’s number two on Netflix for a reason, I guess. But that mentality comes off as so selfish to me. Yes, the juxtaposition of someone from an older generation placed in a situation that transcends what they know and is totally foreign to them can come across as funny, but it just feels so needling in this movie. Jack reacts so wildly to normal things that people suggest to him, and the real conflicts are so incredibly exaggerated that it’s hard to buy into them.
It’s not often that I find myself agreeing with the antagonists of a movie, but more often than not, I do in Old Dads. There’s a scene in the beginning where Jack picks up his son from school and is told not to be late for student pickup again. Instead of reacting to this in a rational way, Jack gets defensive and ends up cursing out the principal in front of everyone there, which puts his son’s academic prospects at risk in regards to the principal writing a recommendation. The teachers and parents are such exaggerated and cliché examples of the millennial hipster that either side comes off as phony and way too broad to make any kind of point. When Jack goes to apologize, and the parents push back, he reacts again as if they’re all crazy, even though they’re saying completely reasonable things.
There are a few good moments here and there, though. Burr is still a good actor at the end of the day, and has some funny lines occasionally. The supporting cast surrounding his maniac tendencies are a great group of comedic actors. Cannavale and Woodbine always do great work. Oscar nominee Paul Walter Hauser shows up for one scene for some reason, and C. Thomas Howell has a bit part as a nomad who becomes the face of the new brand from Jack’s company. I found both of those castings to be kind of random, but it’s always nice to see them, I suppose. Also, as a huge fan of FX’s The League, seeing Aselton in anything is a treat, and she gives a great performance here, essentially becoming the emotional fulcrum of the film.
But there’s not enough good will to be spent to make up for the grating and downright annoying tone this movie takes time and time again. Jack continuously masks his anger as “being honest,” and is projecting his feelings onto other people, who all allegedly “don’t care,” and “are just trying to stay out of trouble” by not saying the wrong thing; in actuality, the only trouble that’s being caused is by Jack, who can’t seem to understand why changing his behavior is so important. You would think the first time he cusses out the principal he would want to better himself, but then he cusses her out AGAIN in the third act, forcing him to be kicked out by Leah, and only then does he even consider working on his anger and going to therapy.
If there’s anything at all that Old Dads is trying to say, it’s that even those who aren’t able to change everything about themselves can still find a way to try. But the way this movie ends up getting there is cheap and empty, and everything leading up to it only adds up to an unlikable protagonist and a poor understanding of what it means to be a man in 2023.
Rating: Didn’t Like It
Old Dads is currently streaming on Netflix
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Great review Jacob!!!