Like Father Review

Like Father follows a workaholic executive (Kristen Bell) as she deals with a disrupting point in her life. Things don't go well and her similar estranged father (Kelsey Grammer) comes into the picture randomly. Through a series of events the two end up on a Caribbean cruise and that's where the core of the adventure takes off. It feels like a fairly long film though does have decent pacing. It's a bit slower as this is geared towards being a more emotional exploration into people and the problems they can have when work becomes a defining points of one's life.

It's a simple lesson and they really hammer that point in as Kristen Bell will just not set her phone down. I'm puzzled how good of a reception she gets in the middle of the ocean, assuming the boat has Wifi? That aspect feels pressed a tad too hard, but does help build towards the message and generally enjoying life as you experience it. It doesn't exactly have determined paths with many side ventures that don't have pay-offs. That's fine however as it was an enjoyable time with some decent comedic bits. As a Canadian, I especially liked the jokes of Seth Rogen explaining where he was from as I have to do that when travelling places. There were some other good moments and it balances drama with bits of comedy well.

The acting was fine in Like Father, especially Bell taking point here despite being totally out of it on her phone for the majority of the time. When the defining moments came around she did deliver. I felt the cast was too large as the side characters didn't serve much of a purpose aside from providing some laughs. They didn't get any development and made things come across as bloated often while being unnecessary.

There was some chemistry between the two leads and I especially liked when they came together for activities. Some narrative points were too obvious and I wish more mystery had been introduced. This was mostly well shot looking good and it certainly makes a cruise seem like a good time. They had some neat moments of not falling into tropes while doing so at other times.

The Conclusion

Like Father is a decent dramatic film about balancing life with work while trickling little bits of comedy throughout. The results are mostly alright and this is a decent watch. It wasn't anything too amazing or new, but had some strong moments. I'm mostly mixed on it, but did get some good laughs and found it fine to watch. There are some interesting visuals across the ship and it does paint a regular cruise very well.

This setting might be familiar and they hit all the notes one might expect from this type of voyage. There were some nice twists though most are clearly shown and even with this review I've purposely kept out key points that are shown quickly. Bell delivers here whenever she's able to put the phone down, I get what they were drilling in but they went over the top with that.

Like Father Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Screening was Provided by Netflix

Rating Overall: 7.1