For your holiday season pleasure, we get to see the oddball pairing of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg together again since their initial chemistry in five years. This time, they are dads competing for the love and affection of their family in the Paramount Pictures comedy Daddy’s Home.

Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) has been struggling for nearly a year to earn the respect and admiration to Sara’s (Linda Cardellini) kids Megan (Scarlett Estevez) and Dylan (Owen Vaccaro). The two kids see him as nothing until one day where both of them finally needed Brad’s advice and help with their daily lives. Brad’s life as a father is finally looking up and he could not be any happier. That is… until one day when the kids’ biological father, Dusty Mayron (Mark Wahlberg) comes back into the picture.

From the moment he shows up in his shiny motorcycle, Dusty is determined to shows he’s the top dog of the family. Suddenly, the gloves come off to see who is the better dad to Megan & Dylan. Will it be Brad, the radio executive who’s the all around play-it-safe nice guy or Dusty, the man who has connections that I could not believe. The one can charm anyone with his devilish smile, bulging biceps and ripped abs.

It’s a great sight to see Ferrell and Wahlberg team up again. It’s an oddball pairing when you see a comedic genius that is Ferrell who can make any role of his memorable and the dramatic chops of Wahlberg who is known for playing tough guys make a comedy together but they pull it off brilliantly.

The only concern I have is with Dusty’s confusing back-story. You have him in one scene being the jack-of-all-trades, the world traveler who might be a soldier, to being just the deadbeat dad. You have to wonder what is his true story.

Director Sean Anders also knows how to guide his supporting players of Thomas Hayden Church, Bobby Cannavale and Hannibal Burress—into comedic grooves with just the right harmonic undertones. Church plays Brad’s boss Leo gives the craziest stories of his married life that you would feel both awed and confused as to why it relates to Brad. While Cannavale has limited on-screen time with his role as Dr. Francisco, we just hams it up in the few scenes he’s in. Finally, Burress plays Griff, the handyman who suddenly takes up residence like an uninvited guest that you don’t mind being there. Burgess steals the scenes with his one-liners.

Daddy’s Home does hits home in regards to familial issues especially divorce and parenting. It shows how that it takes teamwork from both biological and stepparents in order to make a single-family unit. Home details that parenting no matter if you’re new to the game or a veteran, takes a lot of hard work and that no two parenting style are ever the same.

FINAL GRADE: B

About The Author

Dean Rogers

Editor-in-Chief/Entertainment Reporter

I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias, to books, to dictionaries, to magazines. I’m also an avid consumer of television, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!

My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.

Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.

As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my life-long journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.

All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.

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