Like Father

Review #22: Like Father

If you're old enough to remember when there were only three networks which would fill out their weekly programming schedules with "Movies of the Week", then this Netflix film might be of interest to you. Like Father, starring Kelsey Grammar and Kristen Bell, is reminiscent of some of the better movies of the week of years gone by, only with a slightly better budget and bigger names to drive them. To be fair, Bell has top billing and is the central character, but Grammar is the actor I'm more familiar with and the reason I decided to give it a go. The only thing that I know I've seen Kristen Bell in might be a single episode of Veronica Mars. (Note to self: see if that's available to binge.)

Life Father is the story of Rachel Hamilton, a workaholic who gets left at the altar because she can't leave her phone home even on the day of her wedding. (She was late walking down the aisle because she took a work call.) Her estranged father, Harry, shows up uninvited to her wedding, hoping that this would be a good day to try to make amends. When things go south at the ceremony, Harry thinks better of it, and tries to sneak up unnoticed. He fails.

Harry shows up later on at Rachel's apartment to see if she's okay and invites her out for a drink, promising her that she doesn't have to talk to him. They start going shot for shot and wake up outside her place the following morning when the limo arrives to take her on her honeymoon cruise. Next thing she knows, she's waking up in her cabin on the cruise ship, and Harry is sleeping on the couch. She has little recollection of agreeing to go on the cruise and inviting Harry along. They get confused for a May-December romance for a while, until the misunderstanding gets corrected.

Up to this point, it seems like a trite set-up for "hilarity ensues" but the writers don't fall into the usual cliches. Rachel is resistant to any reconciliation with Harry or to changing her workaholic ways or just having a life. And Harry's reasons for wanting to reunite with his daughter aren't what you expect. The writers do dangle the possibility of an old trope, which would've been lazy writing, but they then avert it expertly.

Rachel and Harry are grouped in the cruise with a circle of new friends, a supporting cast who add to the fun, and drive the story and help shape the relationship.

Summary: If you're a fan of either Kristen Bell or Kelsey Grammar, you should enjoy this. You won't feel like you wasted two hours of your time, which may not sound like high praise, but it's what you hope for with a "movie of the week."