I Love My Dad

My family spent a good amount of time trying to find a movie to watch. After watching the trailer to "I Love My Dad", we thought this was going to be a fun, and hilarious movie. Well, unfortunately, all the best jokes are in the trailer. And since you already seen these jokes, there is nothing left to laugh at. "I Love My Dad" is closer to a drama than a comedy. It is a drama that is hard to relate to because the situation is bizarre. The texting conversations show how the son visualizes the girl, which makes the movie more watchable than if it just took place over texting. As a drama, I don't think the movie works.

Congratulations to the director and writer of this film for steering his movie down the delicate path to land this story.

It came across as honest, and I forgot I was watching famous stand up comedian Patton Oswalt and cast and instead got immersed in a far fetched but believable story. They sold it well and the motives of the characters were true all the way through.

The acting and direction were spot on, and the script took you places you didn't feel comfortable going but pulled it off each time, turning in a very funny and very human story that felt real and had something to say and worthy messages and thoughts to offer.

Also of note was the editing and music choices, and the inventive way it chose to deal with the text conversations. It worked really well, and allowed the actors to shine.

This really is a standout story and film, a challenging movie in a sea of predictable and shallow visual candy.

Well done to everyone who made this movie and got this movie made. I hope it gets the viewing audience it deserves.

IN A NUTSHELL: The movie was directed and written by James Morosini. Kudos to him! As it turns out, this movie is actually based on his personal life experiences with his absentee father. Making this movie had to have been therapeutic for him and his dad.

THINGS I LIKED: There's something charming about Patton Oswalt. He does a great job in the movie and is also one of the producers of the film.

I really liked James Morosini and Claudia Sulewski together.

Lil Rel Howery has been showing up in all kinds of movies lately. Good for him.

The film illustrates complicated relationships very well.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: I had a hard time really liking and rooting for the dad because of the type of dad he was shown to be at the very beginning of the movie. He caused 100% of his own problems and proceeded to make them even worse.

There are some cringe moments for sure.

There are some equally cringe-singing moments.

You have to sit through a lot of "ick" to get to the "aww" moment.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Profanity and F-bombs Super crude conversations Super sexually-charged scenes Two men kiss Phone sex

THEMES: Catfishing Internet Suicide Family Pain Father-son relationship Honesty Dysfunctional relationships Social media

People these days are zone focused on superhero films. That all fine and well but when your aren't on that wave and you want something different and new this film gives you that. It's funny, sad, maddening and heartfelt. James Morosini I applaud you for putting yourself out there.

It's hard to believe this is based on a true story. Apparently this really happened to director/star of film. I'm not exactly sure how much of it is true, but it's still a crazy story either way. I recommend checking it out. 7 stars.