SXSW Review: Patton Oswalt In James Morosini’s ‘I Love My Dad’
deadline.comI Love My Dad is a sort-of Cyrano for the internet age, a scabrous comedy of embarrassment and bad parenting. After his micro-budgeted 2018 directorial debut with the little seen-Threesomething, writer-director-co-star James Morosini returns with a swiftly paced second feature that provokes plenty of laughs, often at the expense of its hapless characters.
But what viewers will remember most here is Patton Oswalt in a genuine starring role that’s a strong candidate for worst dad of the decade.This is a slick comedy of discomfort, some of it quite extreme, and the prime instigator is Oswalt’s Chuck, a middle-aged, out-of-shape, fast-talking screw-up who has not exactly provided a swell role model for his son Franklin (Morosini).
Time-outs are usually assigned to children, but in this family’s case the culprit is invariably the dad, a fast-talker and videogame freak who’s always full of excuses as to why he hasn’t pulled his weight or been there when needed.
If there were ever a strong leading candidate for being canceled for any number of reasons, it might well be this irresponsible jerk of a father.But comedy is often full of people you would steer clear of in real life and yet are most welcome onscreen, and so it is with Chuck, mainly because Oswalt is so good playing an obnoxious cretin.
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