Movie Review: I Love My Dad
James Morosini and Patton Oswalt as Franklin and Chuck in I Love My Dad. Image: ©I Love My Dad, LLC (Hantz Motion Pictures)
Franklin (James Morosini) is trying to put his life back together after a suicide attempt when his estranged father, Chuck (Patton Oswalt), wants back in. Franklin and his dad have had a tumultuous relationship their whole lives. Chuck is a pathological liar and cunning schemer, who wriggles his way out of commitments and responsibilities in effortless and damaging fashion. But when an attempt to re-connect with his son fails yet again, Chuck’s schemes take on a whole new level of moral ambiguity. Blocked on Facebook by Franklin, he decides to catfish his own son by posing as a waitress named Becca (Claudia Sulewski). Friends on Facebook once more, Chuck and Franklin develop a digital bond that quickly spirals out of control as Franklin falls in love with and wishes to meet the elusive Becca.
Intrigued? You should be. Writer, director and star Morosini sensationally draws from his own experience being catfished by his father for this stranger-than-fiction tale. It’s a story ripe for dramedy, and I Love My Dad delivers laughs and heart in spades, one sexting scene (unknowingly with his own dad) at a time.
Opening with the hook: “The following actually happened. My Dad told me to tell you it didn’t”, it quickly becomes clear why Morosini’s father would panic about the story being shared, as the mixed bag leaves you feeling both anxious and hopeful.
“The following actually happened. My Dad told me to tell you it didn’t”
Breathing life into an online relationship through the medium of film would have posed a big challenge for filmmaker Morosini, but he found a way. The conversations between characters play out by lifting the words of these texts and fashioning them as face-to-face conversations for the viewer. Imagined as they are by our protagonists, it’s a nice touch and ticks the all-important “show don’t tell” rule of filmmaking, adding to the charm and personality of I Love My Dad in more ways than one. We’re invited into the characters on an intimate level, revealing secrets, desires, and inhibitions.
Oswalt is perfectly cast as the well-meaning, yet deeply flawed narcissist Chuck. He is a walking, talking conundrum that is fun to grapple with as a viewer because you want him to succeed, despite how twisted and morally corrupt his methods are. A tricky balance for even a versatile veteran actor such as Oswalt to pull off. Alongside him is Morosini, who offers a sweet and endearing balance of innocence and blind optimism as Franklin. From the outside it seems outrageous he would fall for such a ploy, but we are to remember this is a true story, and when love and obsession is involved, anything is possible.
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I Love My Dad manages to make you simultaneously cringe and cry with its painful situational comedy and family drama. It leaves a feeling of deep disturbance yet optimism for these characters and their attempts at reconciliation. Many say, “There is no such thing as a bad idea”, but just wait until you see this film and meet Chuck.
