Fatherhood is nothing if not apt Netflix programming for this fathers day weekend. It also offers Kevin Hart another chance to be more sympathetic and sincere than usual, and he’s quite good in those moments.
He plays Matt Hogelin, whose life in fatherhood begins with both miracle and tragedy as his wife dies shortly after childbirth. Matt is by all accounts unprepared to be a single parent but refuses when his mother-in-law (Alfre Woodward) asks him to move back to Minnesota with her so she can help him.
The film is based on the real-life Matt Hogelin, who wrote a book called “Two Kisses For Maddy”, and Hart’s performance is respectful of all those fears and moments of powerlessness that come with the situation. Of course, there are poop jokes and universal ones about the internal struggle between man and new-fangled car seats and baby carriages and a host of others we’ve seen in countless movies of this ilk going back to Baby Boom, Three Men, and a Baby, and Daddy Day Care.
Director Chris Weitz’s goal is wisely to not create an uproarious sitcom though, but something more measured and heartfelt in its dealings of grief and responsibility. Unfortunately, the film also feels like safe formula. Conflicts regarding Maddy crying while Matt tries to give a work presentation, and later, when Matt begins seeing a new girlfriend (DeWanda Wise) are easily handled. Other issues are brushed aside without much thought at all. Maddy wanting to be a tomboy, Matt wanting to find parental support but instead treated as an outsider by a group of mothers, Matt getting patted on the head for being a good dad when single dads and stay-at-home dads are a dime a dozen nowadays. Rather than really look at these issues, “Fatherhood” keeps things obvious and easily fixable until the very end.
Hart is very good here, as is Melody Hurd who plays the 10-year-old Maddy, and “Barry’s Anthony Carrigan and “Get Out’s” Lil Rel Howery are only on hand for comic relief but they do what they can there. It’s a fine family movie, but you can’t help but think it should have been more.
