Selfmade-Dad - Not macht erfinderisch

I came across this on YouTube free streaming movies "with ads". But there were no ads.

I used to live and work in the New Orleans area and it is fun trying to recognize locations. Kevin Spacey is Robert Axle, inventor, but he likes to call himself a "fabricator" because he always gets his inspiration from things that already are available, usually two things, and he combines the ideas. He has become a Billionaire this way.

However quickly the movie cuts to 10 years later, Robert is getting out of prison after 8 years, seems his last product had a nasty habit of cutting off the fingers of the users. Still there should have been $$Millions left had it not been for his extravagant wife.

So most of the story is about his getting back on his feet and holding down a job, a condition of his parole. And also getting back into the good graces of his daughter, now 20-ish. There are a number of funny situations, plus some that fall flat.

It isn't a memorable movie but Spacey is good and I enjoyed it for what it is.

Even first rate actors like Kevin Spacey cannot save a film just on their name alone, they need a better script to work with. In this case Kevin Spacey plays a successful multi-millionaire inventor named Robert Axle who ends up serving a 10 year prison term for inventing and releasing prematurely an exercise machine that severs fingers from a number of purchasers. Robert Axle invested his whole life in marketing his inventions and no time what so ever with his little girl, played by Camilla Belle, or his ex wife Lorraine played by Virginia Madsen.

When Axle gets out of prison not only is his name poison with the large retail giants, but his ex wife has remarried to a Forest Ranger named Jerry King played by Craig Robinson, and they have slowly squandered a fortune of over 200 million dollars. Axle's only daughter Claire, played by Camilla Belle still suffers from latent child abandonment issues. So life has been cruel to Robert Axle these past 10 years in prison. He first befriends his daughters two roommates, who agree to give up their couch to Robert rather than have to watch him live in a men's shelter for too long.

In an effort to redeem himself and regain his Midas touch with a new invention, Axle goes to work at the fourth largest retail chain named Family World, whose immediate Assistant Store Manager is a guy named Troy Coangelo, played superbly by Johnny Knoxville. Axle and Troy don't see eye to eye on the store's priorities and as such Axle's career at Family World is short lived. Desperate to make amends with his daughter Claire, Axle does come up with a new invention but can't find an investor willing to risk financing a dead beat and felony ex convict like Axle.

Eventually he does find one investor and he also makes amends with his daughter. Yes, there are a few sentimental tear jerker scenes between father and daughter but not quite enough good film value for me to recommend Father Of Invention for your viewing pleasure.

As a result I rate the film a 5 out of 10. Viewer beware of a weak script with little decent content.

Not so good cast of actors, especially the female roles, it seriously disappoint because all its ideas are already used a lot previously. Despite all: it entertains quite well.

"Father of Invention" stars Kevin Spacey as a fabricator, an infomercial king, who combines existing products into new ones. Problem is he was in jail, now he has lost his empire, and lost his family. The key word in the title is father. The entire film is him trying to reconnect with his daughter (Camilla Belle).

Spacey has frequently played fathers trying to reconnect with their daughter, the prime example being "American Beauty" (1999). Not that one is likely to confuse the two films, but there's an underlying similarity about the pursuit of success and the pursuit of family. That's what "Father of Invention" is about but it doesn't actually explore those issues.

It's also supposed to be a comedy, but because it was just him and his daughter there was nothing clever that catches you off-guard to make you laugh. The daughter (whom, by the way, I have already forgotten her name) lives with two roommates. One is in love with Kevin Spacey (whom I have also forgotten his character's name) and the other is a lesbian. There was no slow reveal for any of this. Those facts were just presented as if they create whole characters.

The conflict which this builds to isn't surprising (it's part of the mandate for dysfunctional family dramedies) or even interesting since we never did care for the characters in the first place. "Father of Invention" certainly didn't invent anything and there's nothing special about the daughter or the father.

"Haven't you ruined enough peoples lives?" Robert Axel (Spacey) is the world's greatest "fabricator". Combining two ideas into one new one makes him millions. When one idea, the "ab-clicker" (an ab machine/TV remote) breaks peoples fingers he is found liable and is sent to prison. After serving 8 years he is released and moves in with his daughter and two roommates. Kevin Spacey has started to make a living playing offbeat, somewhat eccentric characters that have to build themselves back up. While this performance is not quite as good as "Casino Jack" it is still very good, and the movie is too. A very funny and enjoyable movie to watch. While not very original it is still very entertaining and Spacey's interaction with the other characters is what makes the movie. The supporting cast which includes Heather Graham, Johnny Knoxville and Craig Robinson are great and while the movie is a rehash of many other movies the acting and dialog make this well worth watching. Overall, a very entertaining movie that is only that way because of the cast. I give it a B.

Would I watch again? - I don't know if I would.

*Also try - Casino Jack & Extract