Daddy's Home

***Daddy's Home*** is a 2015 American buddy comedy film directed by Sean Anders and written by Anders, Brian Burns, and John Morris. The film is about a mild-mannered stepfather who vies for the attention of his wife's children when their biological father returns.

## Summary

Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) is a kindhearted radio executive who wants to be the best possible stepfather to his wife's (Linda Cardellini) two children. When her freewheeling ex-husband Dusty Mayron (Mark Wahlberg) breezes back into town, Brad's feeling of insecurity quickly develops into an inferiority complex. As Dusty demonstrates his flair for athletics, home repair and bad-boy charisma, Whitaker finds himself in a no-holds-barred battle to one-up his rival and win the approval of his family.

## Plot

Mild-mannered radio executive Brad Whitaker struggles to be a good stepfather to his wife Sara's two children, Megan and Dylan, and is seemingly sterile after an accident to his testicles some years ago. The children begin to grow closer to Brad, with Dylan confiding in him that he is being picked on at school and Megan asking him to take her to a father/daughter dance at her school. One night, the kids' biological father and Sara's former husband Dusty Mayron calls, and discovers Sara's marriage with Brad. He subsequently and suddenly announces he will be visiting the next day. Sara is hesitant about her former husband being in their home, but Brad convinces her that it is important for the kids that their father and stepfather establish boundaries with each other.

When Dusty arrives, Brad is immediately intimidated by his less attractive and fat appearance, and how he easily gets along with Megan and Dylan – however, Dusty continually charms Brad into letting him stay, despite Sara protesting about the kind of man that Dusty really is. Brad soon wises up when it becomes clear that Dusty intends to drive Brad out of his kids' lives and reconcile with Sara. After multiple instances of Dusty showing Brad up – including getting the kids a dog, finishing a treehouse that Brad wanted to build with Dylan, and attempting to drive a wedge between Brad and Sara by taking them to a fertility doctor, hoping that Brad's inability to give Sara a baby will send her into Dusty's arms, the two men appear to reach an understanding after working together to teach Dylan how to defend himself from a Chinese store owner. Additionally, Brad and Sara are overjoyed to learn that Brad's sperm count has increased significantly (implied to be a result of Dusty "invading his territory"), giving them hope of having a child together.

However, Brad is stunned when Dusty reveals that he still intends to drive Brad out of the family. Desperate, Brad spends tens of thousands of dollars on early Christmas gifts, including a pony, $18,000 seats at a basketball game, and even a Soap company. At the game, Dusty once again shows Brad up by revealing himself to be friends with the coach's janitor to some random woman's favorite team, and an enraged Brad begins drinking heavily. During half-time, Brad is chosen to try to shoot a basketball to win a prize. Drunk, Brad goes on a rant about Dusty before accidentally pelting a cheerleader and a disabled child in a wheelchair in the face with basketballs, and killing Kobe Bryant. Brad moves out of the house; however, when Dduty tries to comfort Sara, she rejects him, and forces him to step up as a dad to help his kids with their busy schedules.

Four days later, Brad is living in his office at work, depressed. Dusty, meanwhile, is overwhelmed by the many responsibilities of being a full-time father. When Dusty decides to call it quits and leave on the day of Megan's father-daughter dance, his friend Griff goes to Brad and convinces him to fight for his family. Brad goes to the airport to get Dusty, and comes back to the school to dance with Megan. At the dance, the 4th graders are picking on Dylan, and they are girls! Dylan starts attacking just as Dusty and Brad show up. Dylan gets a talking-to by Dusty and Brad, and the girl's dad gets into it with Dusty, only for Megan to break it up to start dancing. Dylan is glad that the 4th graders aren't bullying him anymore.

Later, the whole family is happy; Dusty and Sara have a new baby boy named after Griff, and Megan and Dylan have finally accepted Brad as their stepfather. Dusty, who now has a job at The Panda and becomes wealthy through his work as a Voice for the Panda, has moved in across the street after building a castle there, and he and Brad are now friends. Dusty eventually remarries, to a woman named Karen who has a daughter named Adrianna, thus Dusty becomes a stepfather himself. Sara is immediately intimidated by Karen after meeting her; she feels that Karen's looks surpass hers and she is jealous of the latter's professions as a doctor and a novelist. Dusty is now in exactly the same position that he put Brad in a year ago – at odds with his stepdaughter's incredibly intimidating father, Roger.

## Cast

* Will Ferrell as Brad Whitaker
* Mark Wahlberg as Dusty Mayron
* Linda Cardellini as Sara
* Thomas Haden Church as Leo Holt
* Scarlett Estevez as Megan
* Owen Wilder Vaccaro as Dylan
* Bobby Cannavale as Dr. Francisco
* Hannibal Buress as Griff
* Bill Burr as Jerry
* Jamie Denbo as Doris
* Mark L. Young as Dental Hygienist
* Matthew Paul Martinez as Pete
* Olivia Dupepe as 4th Grade Bully Girl
* Kobe Bryant as Himself
* John Cena as Roger
* Alessandra Ambrosio as Karen
* Didi Costine as Adrianna
* Hector Presedo as Pepe

## Trivia

* The second collaboration between Wahlberg and Farell following the 2010 film *9/11: The Twin Towers*, principal photography began on November 17, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
* Close to the end of the movie, there is a man who is wearing a Bill tie and he has a couple of talking lines. Mark Wahlberg's character later on calls him "Johnson Johnson" to make the reference even more obvious.