[yasr_overall_rating]
Upon learning that their mother has been lying to them for years about their allegedly deceased father, two fraternal twin brothers hit the road in order to find him.
When “Father Figures” was released in theaters back in December of 2017, there was no press screening so I never got to review it but Warner Bros. sent me a Blu-ray to critique and based upon the trailers I had seen, I was ready to write it off completely. But not so fast! While the story is nothing new, two brothers set off on a quest to track down their real father, it wasn’t so much the humorous elements of the film that struck me, but rather the emotional core of the story. My father walked out on my mother and sister and me when I was seven-years-old and while I got to see him on weekends, as I got older, I chose not to. He wasn’t a very good father, rather, a man who was more interested in himself so as I grew up, I moved away from him altogether. My mother is the one who raised us and she was, and still is, my hero. That aspect of “Father Figures” reached out and grabbed me from the opening scene and I wasn’t expecting it and it was that whole aspect that actually drew me in.
When brothers Peter (Ed Helms) and Kyle (Owen Wilson) discover from their mother Helen (Glenn Close) that the man she claimed was their father, and who died many years ago, in fact, wasn’t their father, and that she actually doesn’t know who their real dad was, putting it down to a culmination of her being wild and reckless in 1970s New York and hooking up with several different guys, as was the norm back then, Peter demands to know who his father is. She gives him a name: Terry Bradshaw. Yes, THAT Terry Bradshaw. She tells them that he and her hooked up for a while before they went their separate ways and the two brothers set off for Miami where Mr. Bradshaw lives. As big fans of the man, meeting him in person is very overwhelming but when they remind him of their mother, he remembers her fondly. He quickly puts two and two together and realizes that he has two new sons. They hang out on the beach until an old football friend of Terry’s drops by, Rod Hamilton (Ving Rhames), and he remembers Helen too, only in a little more explicit detail, much to the embarrassment of Peter and Kyle. When Terry informs him of his two new sons, Rod remembers that the two men left New York right around the time that Helen supposedly conceived the two boys and sadly, they realize that Terry is not their dad after all. Terry happens to mention another name, a guy Helen used to hang out around that time, Roland Hunt (J.K. Simmons), a former financial investor, and armed with this new information, the duo make their way up north to meet him.
Granted, as with Terry Bradshaw, things don’t go according to plan and when asked by the two brothers if he was with their mother around Christmas of 1975, he states that he was actually in prison at that time so it couldn’t have been him but before parting ways, Roland mentions the name of another guy to them, a cop, Patrick O’Callaghan, nicknamed “Sparkly Pete,” and who Helen really liked, and once again, the brothers head to upstate New York to meet him. Upon arriving at his house though, they are taken aback when they realize that they have just walked into a wake and that he had just passed away. After getting into a minor altercation with Patrick’s two sons, their uncle Kevin (Jack McGee), steps in and when Peter and Kyle mention their mother’s name, Kevin remembers her and tells them that it couldn’t have been Patrick because coming from a very strong Catholic background, he didn’t believe in premarital sex and that he was never intimate with Helen. He mentions the name of a veterinarian, Dr. Walter Tinkler (Christopher Walken), who he says was good friends with their mother at the time and that he lives in Ohio, not too far from their mother’s house. When they get back to Ohio and face Tinkler, their mother finally turns up and realizing that her two boys are genuinely trying to seek out their father, she has no choice but to tell them the truth.
For a movie that claims to be a comedy, “Father Figures” is light on the laughs. The two squabbling brothers who can never get along, but by the end of the film become best friends, has been done to death but it’s their journey of self-discovery, which sets it apart. Owen Wilson and Ed Helms are believable as the quarrelsome siblings and while Glenn Close, Terry Bradshaw, playing an exaggerated version of himself, as well as Ving Rhames, J.K. Simmons, and Christopher Walken, all do fine with their respective roles, it is actually Wilson and Helms who shine here. For two adult men who lead drastically separate lives, Helms’ Peter is a divorced father with a teenage son who hates him, and Wilson’s Kyle is a wealthy beach bum who has a beautiful wife with a baby on the way, by the end, they manage to overcome all of their obstacles, including each other, to become stronger and closer than ever before. We watch as the two men slowly realize that the quest to find their father is not what matters, rather, being surrounded by the family they already have, is. I honestly expected to come away from “Father Figures” rolling my eyes and writing it off as another failed attempt at R-rated comedy but the drama, thankfully, takes its place and the movie actually works as a result of it.
Available on Blu-ray & DVD April 3rd
