Fatherhood (2021)
“If there’s one piece of advice I could give you about bringing up a kid? Look, as a parent we do all this shit, right? Trying to make everything perfect. But we’re not in control; you just have to accept that fact. ” – Mike.
Fatherhood (2021)
Directed by: Paul Weitz
Written by: Paul Weitz, Dana Stevens
Starring: Kevin Hart, Alfre Woodard, Lil Rey Howery, DeWanda Wise, Melody Hurd
Kevin Hart’s new Netflix dramedy Fatherhood caught me completely off-guard. I went into this film pretty sceptical, assuming that it would be yet another ‘funny-comedy-starring-Kevin-Hart.’ You know the ones – where he plays a short and feisty everyman thrown into a predicament, but somehow gets out of trouble using witty one-liners and slapstick comedy. Well, this ain’t that. Instead, it’s a nuanced and emotional drama, with Hart finally given the chance to showcase his impressive acting range.
The film focuses on Matt (Hart), a father who is thrust into the role of a single dad when his wife tragically dies a day after giving birth to their daughter Maddy (Hurd). Juggling his grief, his job, and with mounting criticism from his late-wife’s mother Marion (Woodard), Matt strives to defy the odds and raise Maddy on his own.
Any preconceptions I had of this movie being a ‘lazy comedy’ were quelled very quickly, with the film opening on a tear-jerking funeral scene. In keeping with this scene, Fatherhood is a drama, focussed on the key themes of relationships, love, and loss. Unsurprisingly, the core of the film is the relationship between Matt and Maddy, and how the two learn from each other as Maddy grows up. And whilst exploring parenting isn’t a new concept amongst filmmakers, the writers have deliberately flipped the ‘single mum’ theme on its head here, with Matt’s character constantly having to ward off the concerns and judgements of other characters at his inability to raise a child due to his gender. “Where’s his mother?”, Matt is asked regularly. “You don’t have the patience or emotional disposition [of a woman],” states his boss.
And please don't confuse this as me saying the film is a testosterone-fuelled metaphor for the muppets who go around saying, “Why don’t we have a bloody International Mens Day too!” It’s not. In fact, the writers consistently challenge other societal norms throughout the film too, with Maddy getting in trouble for wearing pants at her school and behaving “too much like a boy.” Any of these massive and complicated social issues need to be explained or rationalised to Maddy by Matt, and these conversations prove to be the most wholesome scenes in the movie. Innocent yet perceptive, Maddy is able to simplify and summarise some of these issues as only children can, flummoxing a proud Matt. I believe the film’s stance on parenting is best summarised by Matt’s father in law, Mike, who states:
“If there’s one piece of advice I could give you about bringing up a kid? Look, as a parent we do all this shit, right? Trying to make everything perfect. But we’re not in control; you just have to accept that fact.”
Kevin Hart is phenomenal in this. Whatever you think about his stand-up or comedy career, he’s fantastic here, assuming the role of an overwhelmed but loving father with aplomb. He makes you laugh and makes you cry - hitting all the right notes in his best performance yet. Alfre Woodard provides a worthy sparring partner for Hart in her role as mother-in-law Marion, and Lil Rey Howery is a source of much-needed comic relief as Matt’s best friend Jordan.
For the sake of fairness, I do think the movie was wrapped up a little bit too neatly at the end, and there is probably one too many “oh-no, the-baby-did-a-poo” jokes in this, but the film was a pleasant surprise that I was happy to stumble upon. Sad but funny, witty but understated, if Hart keeps making stuff like this, I’m all in. Highly recommend.
Rating: 7.5/10
Weitz filmography:
Paul Weitz (the director/co-writer) has an impressive comedic resume. He helped write and direct the original American Pie film, along with Little Fockers.
He also has some experience delving into films with unusual parental figures, helping adapt the screenplay for Nick Hornby’s About a Boy.