Fathers' Day

A film review by Christopher Null - Copyright © 1997 Filmcritic.com

What are the odds that the two would-be fathers of one woman's son would be two of the biggest comedians of the screen today!? Well, they're fair enough if you see Father's Day, yet another Ivan Reitman (Beethoven, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, et. al.) film that is so disgustingly sweet you'll want to spit out your jujubes. Billy Crystal and Robin Williams play the titular fathers, out to rescue the missing son they never knew they had. (Plot Simplified: Nastassja Kinski was a stonkingly huge slut and doesn't know who daddy is.)

For all its saccharine heavy-handedness, Father's Day does manage to come across as one of Reitman's better efforts in recent years, but the by-the-Hollywood-book formula, structure, and pacing really bog down the production. There's plenty of missed comic opportunities, but a few that hit dead-on -- especially a notable, heavily-pierced cameo (watch for it!). And yes, the estranged son looks exactly like me. A 1/4 star bonus for that.

And yes, I'm sick of writing mediocre reviews, too.



"Luke, I am your father..."


At no time during the film, does Julia Louis-Dreyfus sweat like this.

Bookmark and Share

Rating

2.5 out of 5 Stars

Cast and Crew

  • Director: Ivan Reitman
  • Producer: Joel Silver, Ivan Reitman
  • Screenwriter: Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel
  • Stars: Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nastassja Kinski, Charlie Hofheimer
  • MPAA Rating: PG-13