Review: Like Father

Rachel is completely married to her job, a fact of life that doesn't bode too well for her fiancee. He seems to accept this until she almost misses walking down the aisle to her own wedding, so busy is she on her cell phone managing an upcoming pitch for a potato chip account. This proves to be the last straw for the sap, who leaves her at the altar. As if that wasn't enough, she discovers that her long absent father, Harry, was there in attendance to witness her humiliation.

Any person in their right mind would lay low and recover, but pathological workaholic Rachel goes right back to work the next day and, unsurprisingly, has a breakdown of sorts and is promptly sent home, where she drinks her troubles away. Harry shows up, wanting to make amends. Father and daughter go to a bar, Rachel's hostilities are relaxed by more alcohol and the two drink and drink and drink some more. When they awaken in the cold light of day, they discover themselves on the cruise ship where Rachel and her husband-to-be were to spend their honeymoon. Cue conflict, resentment, and a slow but laugh-filled march to mutual understanding.

The basic premise of Like Father, written and directed by Lauren Miller Rogen, isn't particularly new. Generic and predictable, it hits all the usual beats and, at its heart, remains as shiny and perky as its leading lady, Kristen Bell. However, this doesn't stop the film from being heartfelt, satisfying, and almost refreshing in its execution. Part of this can be attributed to Rogen, who never lets the comedy get in the way of the emotional core of the film. The jokes serve the story, not the other way around, and even the more relatively outrageous set pieces, like the one in which Rachel and Harry find themselves participating in a Newlyweds-style game show are informed and fuelled by their damaged dynamic.

Like Father very much rests on the capable shoulders of its two stars, both of whom one almost views anew. By no means does Bell deliver a revelatory performance, but there is something about her here that makes her seem more in focus, as if she had become so familiar as to almost be invisible. There's a spikiness in her sunshine and she is tremendously and piercingly heartbreaking in the pivotal moment where Harry finally breaks through the fortress of Rachel's guard. Similarly, Grammer displays a depth of charm and melancholy here that has long been absent from his recent work.

Like Father may be broad, too safe for its own good, and perhaps even easy to dismiss, but it is well worth one's time.

Like Father

Directed by: Lauren Miller Rogen

Written by: Lauren Miller Rogen

Starring: Kristen Bell, Kelsey Grammer, Seth Rogen, Paul W. Downs, Zach Appelman, Leondard Ouzts, Blaire Brooks, Anthony Lacirua, Mary Looram, Brett Gelman