Netflix’s latest original movie offering is Like Father, a comedy starring Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammer, and frankly, calling it a comedy is generous. The premise of the film is that Bell’s character is a workaholic ad executive from New York (how many movies about New York-based workaholics does the world need?) who gets left at the altar because she just can’t stop working, even on her wedding day. She ends up getting drunk with her estranged father, and they wake up after their boozy night out and find themselves on what was meant to be the couple’s honeymoon cruise.
Bell and Grammer are both comedic legends, and the movie is directed by Seth Rogen’s wife, Lauren Miller. Despite this, it feels generic and forced. The rest of the cast, full of the types of faces you’d recognise but not be able to name, is under-utilised, and the inclusion of Seth Rogen makes no sense unless Miller just wanted to justify bringing her husband along to the shoot. The majority of the movie takes place on a cruise ship – specifically, Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas – and frankly, the movie feels like an elaborate excuse for the cast and crew to take a vacation. Which is fine; everyone needs a break! But that doesn’t mean you have to subject me to it.
Considering the strong cast and the fact it’s Netflix, I went into Like Father expecting a lot. Maybe it’s my fault for expecting too much and setting myself up for disappointment. But Netflix’s TV shows are fantastic, so why are do so many of its movies fall flat?
Set It Up was released in June, and it’s a cute romcom that introduced the adorable Zoey Deutch to a wider audience, but it wasn’t the stuff of legends. Like Father feels like its spiritual successor in that way – it’s fine, but forgettable. An evening in spent watching it wouldn’t be a complete waste, but it wouldn’t be the best use of your time, either. The Guardian’s Benjamin Lee likens both films to comfort food, but comfort food is something you love eating and return to when you want something familiar yet enjoyable; I can’t see myself rewatching either of these films.
Since most of the movie takes place on the cruise, viewers get to see a good amount of the Harmony of the Seas, which is probably the closest most of us will get to this behemoth of a boat. Amenities include a ‘fucking floating bar’, a robot bartender, entertainment like an interactive game show and talent competition, on-board golf, surf simulators, and day trip activities like kayaking, ziplining on a private island or hiking to an idyllic Caribbean waterfall.
Royal Caribbean’s branding is visible throughout the film, which probably explains why none of the jokes are at the cruise line’s expense. Variety’s Peter Debruge also felt like the movie was an ad, writing: “can it be a coincidence that the film’s gently teasing sense of humor never outright criticizes the food, or the guests, or the seasickness, or the on-board entertainment, and instead presents it all as the ideal place to put old differences to rest?”
Everything about the movie falls flat; both the jokes and the heartwarming moments inspire no feeling in me, the girl who cries at everything and laughs at really, really dumb jokes. The fact that a movie exists that is so boring it couldn’t be saved by Frasier or Veronica Mars/Eleanor Shellstrop is disturbing and challenges everything I thought I knew about the world.
The film tries to teach the viewer several lessons:
- Work isn’t everything.
- Relationships are important and valuable.
- Call your parents.
- Don’t spend so much time on your phone, you damn millennial.
- Book your Royal Caribbean adventure today!
But based on the near-universal negative reviews and low ratings online (49% on RottenTomatoes and 52 on Metacritic), viewers aren’t buying it.