Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1016519
| SUNDAY • 19 AUGUST 2018 maltatoday 16 COMPARISONS are odious, but humans are trained by evo- lution to spot patterns so they can't be helped. The hot film of Euro-cinema circuit in 2016 happened to be Toni Erdmann (dir. Maren Ade), a subtly hi- larious and deeply touching German-Austrian comedy about an aging hippie father (Peter Simonischek) disrupt- ing the life of his workaholic daughter (Sandra Hüller) in a clumsy attempt at re-connec- tion and reconciliation. It won a boatload of awards and snow- balled into glowing worldwide critical acclaim, though per- haps the loudest and crudest signpost of its barrier-breaking success was confirmed when it was slotted in for an American remake – with Jack Nicholson and Kristen Wiig set to star. But father-daughter narra- tives are hardly a narrow sto- rytelling furrow, and this year, Netflix have taken it upon themselves to craft yet another of their 'Exclusives' precisely on that theme. That Like Father – a direc- torial debut for Lauren Miller Rogen – flounders in compari- son to Toni Erdmann becomes clear enough minutes into its running time. But that's not to say that this undemanding piece of streaming fodder is en- tirely without its merits, espe- cially during the brain-melting, sweltering days of late summer. Rachel (Kristen Bell) is a go- getting workaholic marketing executive who is rarely seen without a smartphone attached to her ear, especially when her company is on the verge of signing a coveted contract with an organic crisps company. But everyone believes that she would do well to slow down, in- cluding her boss, the laid-back Frank (Brett Gelman) who is also officiating at Rachel's wed- ding to Owen (Jon Foster). While Rachel's estranged fa- ther Harry (Kelsey Grammer) sneaks into the ceremony in hopes of reconnecting with his daughter after a 25-year absence from her life, Owen decides that a smartphone-re- lated mishap is one workaholic step too far, and abandons Ra- chel on the altar. Keen to console a devastated and hostile daughter, Harry in- sists on taking Rachel out for "just one drink" – a promise that is not heeded by either, who find themselves aboard the honeymoon cruise to the Car- ibbean that Owen had booked. If that sounds like a generic mix-up of circumstances to concoct a pleasant and heart- warming, almost-tear-jerker of a bonding comedy, that's be- cause it is. Of course, Rachel is none too happy to have her dad along with her on this trip, sim- mering in her resentment of his abandonment and itching to just get back to work to escape from her grief at being ditched at the altar. Add the contrived- as-heck trope of Rachel and Harry being lumped with three pairs of conveniently diverse honeymooners (a gay couple, an African-American and an elderly one) and you've got an autopilot recipe for a bland comedy summer slushie. But while the script – also penned by Rogen, who casts her husband Seth as an on- cruise love interest for Rachel – certainly lacks that dash of inspiration that can elevate a just-okay comedy into a truly great one, the cast certainly do their own heavy lifting to attempt as much. Grammer needs virtually no introduction after having embodied the be- loved radio psychologist Fraiser Crane on TV for over a decade (funnily enough, neither is he new to the Netflix stable, doing voiceover duty as a mentoring troll in the Guillermo del Toro- created animated series Troll- hunters). He is about as perfect a piece of casting here as can be; possessed of a likeability that allows us to not hate him as much as Rachel justifiably does for most of the running time. Bell is characteristically spiky and spunky here; once again delivering a witty and likable performance that gels nicely with Grammer's suave charm. One thing that certainly sucks out even more of the already limited wind in the film's sales in Netflix's shoddy, appar- ent cost-cutting measures. As is becoming standard for the streaming service's original fea- ture length material, sets once again feel threadbare, the mise- en-scene and shots are clearly all sorted in a rush, with even the off-cruise traipse to Jamaica coming across as entirely per- functory. FILM A reluctant father-daughter bonding exercise underpins Lauren Miller Rogen's debut feature, a Netf lix exclusive that should have been so more given the raw talent in its stable LIKE FATHER LIKE DAUGHTER LIKELY UNLIKELY FIGHT ME Daddy, not cool: Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammer in the Netflix- exclusive comedy Like Father L I K E FAT H E R ( 16 + ) Teodor Reljic ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The verdict Hardly challenging anyone's com- fort zone and making very little ef- fort at innovation, Like Father is an amusing-enough heartwarmer to pass the time during the too-warm latter weeks of the summer. It's the kind of film that demands very lit- tle of itself, but while this should be a saving grace of expectations, the very significant comic talents it has on its side actually make its lack of ambition something of a bummer. Both Kelsey Grammer and Kris- ten Bell deserve a rip-roaring and genuinely stirring film to be in to- gether. But this isn't it, and the fact that we'll never see one now is what makes this attempt at broad com- edy something of a low-key tragedy. Like Father is currently streaming on Netflix Cruising on a predictable formula