I Love My Dad

I was floored with Patton Oswalt. Normally I laugh so hard to his stand up, so I was not expecting a heart felt tear jerker! What a delightful surprise. This difficulty of this character was relatable and hit home in many ways. I appreciated the message. I appreciated the mental health that this films deals with. Acting was phenomenal, left me with a wholesome feeling of hope for anyone out there that needs to repair a broken bridge.

I Love My Dad – Really... How to describe a movie like this? Social media pundits may think it savvy and maybe even relevant, but many might see a thin veneer over this story - which claims to be true but comes across as somewhat suss. Comedy? Well, if a young man undergoing a serious recovery session following an attempted suicide - being goaded by an absentee father who has stolen a young woman's social media details. And is now trying to connect with his son by pretending to be this young woman wanting to ‘friend' him...strikes you as funny, it might work for you. Performances are fine, as is the cinematography, use of music is in keeping, but the script is overloaded with cheap vulgar dialogue like you'd expect from a low-grade R rated teen show. There are several life-threatening situations that leave you expecting a tragic outcome, all creating a bad taste in the mouth. The father's cringe-worthy actions are only made partly bearable by a good performance from Patton Oswalt, failing that, quite unforgivable. If this is the best to be expected from social media based stories, then let's hope we don't get bludgeoned over the head with many more. Twitter I can accept, but have heard it said; ‘With friends like Facebook, you don't need enemies,' and this show tends to illustrate that quite well. The better elements within this one are let down by too many shoddy, unsavory moments. And World Movies ran this as a Father's Day movie – How old are their programmers?

'I Love My Dad' works way better than it should! All in all, it's an amusing little flick from 2022. Patton Oswalt is perfectly cast in his role, he is an actor who's work I want to see more and this is a good start in that regard. Elsewhere, Claudia Sulewski impresses highly. It's a fairly tricky role to take on I'd imagine, but she nailed it. Like Oswalt, hope to see more of her! James Morosini plays Oswalt's character's son and Morosini is also the writer/director if this true (!) story - which I only just found out about as of typing this review, given I didn't know what he looked like and didn't clock the opening credits (assuming they made it clear he was also acting in it). That's cool! Lil Rel Howery is the best of the rest of the cast. It's a well made film, its music is its standout feature away from those portraying events onscreen. The score for that scene where Rachel Dratch's character makes a discovery is magnificent, I was supremely impressed - it somehow fits so, so well. Scene of the movie, no doubt. Closely followed by the initial 'kissing' scene, admittedly, None of the more heartfelt moments did anything for me personally, and there are some (intentionally, sure) cringey bits too. Overall though, I enjoyed watching it.

An abusive movie about abuse. Nothing comic or humoristic about this "comedy", which makes money from making fun of vulnerability and abuse. So what if it's a true story? - this difficult subject deserves much much more sensitivity, compassion and respect, A movie about a well-intentioned but terribly twisted and abusive father, that abuses us, the viewers, by making us watch 90 minutes of abuse and repelling selfishness, being treated lightly and superficially, as a family comedy. Gross!

A mix of decent dramatic moments and comedy that leaves you feeling kind of gross. I didn't hate it and the fact that this is based on a true story earns it some points.

After first reading the description I was not too sure, but OMG it was SO GOOD! Watch it!

Yes this movie is cringy however yes so cleverly done, and based on a true story, acted by the kid it actually happened to. That brings so much tension as the story builds and emotion as it concludes. Great acting by all involved. Loved it!

Brilliant to physically have Becka interact with Franklin in the text exchanges, made their budding internet relationship so tangible. I loved this movie; poignant, hilarious, heart-wrenching, and thoroughly believable.. because it happened folks. 🙌

This father trying to connect with his son takes catfishing to disturbingly new (sometimes heartwarming) and funny heights.

Loved loved loved this movie. So original, well-done, well-acted, with pathos, humor, and intelligence. One of the best movies I've seen.