Dec 31, 2016 09:50 AM
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The movie has an interesting title and an equally interesting line-up. Intrigued by all this, I decided to watch this movie over this weekend. Though the movie has a good plot, the execution part seems to be missing.
Ned Fleming( played by Bryan Cranston) is the CEO of a printing company based at Michigan in USA. His company is struggling to remain afloat as far as finances are concerned. Ned is pretty close to his daughter Stephanie( Zoey Deutch). While Ned is in few deals to revamp the finances of his company, Stephanie decides to invite her family including her mom Barb( Megan Mullally) and younger brother Scott(Griffin Gluck) over to California for the Christmas celebrations. Stephanie also wants her family to meet her boyfriend Laird Mayhew( James Franco). Initially skeptical about this, Ned finally decides to visit Stephanie to meet her boyfriend.
However, as soon as Ned lands in California, he is horrified to see the actual Laird. Laird is completely opposite to Ned's expectations. Laird is free-spirited, boisterous, blunt and a rebel who lives the life on his own terms. This comes as a shock for Ned, as his ideal groom for his daughter has completely opposite qualities. Laird has plans to propose Stephanie on the Christmas Day. However, Laird is adamant that he would not be going forth with Stephanie without her father's blessings. Since few days are left before Laird proposes to Stephanie, Ned and Laird lockhorns with each other and Laird tries to use every single method to woo Ned.
The movie has an interesting premise, however, it falls into the traps of cliched scenarios. Both Cranston and Franco are a treat to watch and their attempts to dilute each other's plans are just hilarious. Some of the jokes are adult ones, so you would not want to watch this movie with your family. Deutch is great as Stephanie. Though the movie is completely focused on Ned and Laird's man-o-mania, Zoey Deutch portrays her character of an independent girl pretty well.
The screenplay of the movie is the biggest letdown. The jokes are cliched, the story-line predictable and the dialogues slightly cheesy. Though the actors have performed quite well in their roles, the plot becomes limited in its creativity. The relationship between Laird and Ned has not been developed thoroughly in the movie as well.
Overall, the movie is your typical adult comedy flick with slightly lesser doses of adult tropes. Had it not been for Ned and Laird's chemistry in the movie, it would have been a disaster at the box-office. Still, I would not rate this movie as the one you would be rushing to the theaters to see. An average flick with compelling performances.
