source: Dad's Home

"Dad's Home" is a gentle family movie made for television. The writing is simple but decent, as are the main themes engaged here. The film has much in common with another film about an unemployed widower with two children, that being "We Bought a Zoo," starring Matt Damon. Here the family stays closer to home to discover their new lives with just a single dad to guide them. As with "We Bought a Zoo," a family working through grief is a main, albeit understated theme. David James Elliott carries the film, exhibiting a natural warmth in the main role, and is always handsomely upbeat throughout. Even when destroying a bag of groceries, shrinking clothing in the dryer or burning dinner on the oven, dad's bewilderment at facing domestic chores never destroys the character's innate optimism, which is only occasionally daunted by the memory of his late wife. The actor's choices are always positive and upbeat, especially when informing his children they'll be making a new life in Cleveland. Here, differing from "We Bought a Zoo," the choice is to remain at home in California, to keep the family intact and hopeful. There is no doubt that Dad will be able to find another job close to home. And his romance with the schoolteacher will be allowed to blossom. Of course, with the big bucks that came with the pressures of his old job in the ad game, we tacitly know that dad has invested wisely and can afford to keep up his home and family without uprooting them. His choice in turning down the Cleveland job reinforces his love of his children, which he exhibited consistently throughout the film, loving the kids unconditionally even when they were at their worst. The decision winds up being the only choice this character could have made. Were the title not already used for a former television family series, this TV movie could easily have been called, "Father Knows Best." I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

I decided I owed my wife one and watched, not one, but two movies on Hallmark with her. This movie was OK, slightly below average for this type. It was also odd in that the father was something of a screw-up (I seem to remember 4 stupid things he did). Also, although I often complain about too-clever writing that makes the rest of us feel like dullards (forgetting that professional writers may have spent weeks coming up with the witty banter), this movie had everyone in it with almost no witty lines. They were so ordinary, they could have been my family! The last time I saw attractive leads who had no witty lines and sort-of-ordinary lives was in "Dante's Peak". Still, I came away with a slightly positive feeling about the film.

While the movie is nicely done, the several themes that are visited here have been hashed out in many a film. A father, a widower with 2 children, loses his job and sees the trials and tribulations of being a father. Romance blossoms with his son's 3rd grade teacher. Notice how Miss Jensen is so unprofessional. When his daughter says that she missed having her in the 3rd grade and instead had someone she didn't like, Jensen added that everyone had a bad opinion of that teacher. Unfortunately, this is what goes on in today's schools. The back stabbing is beyond belief. Who would give up that gorgeous home for an easier job in Cleveland? All of a sudden, Cleveland seems to be making it on television shows. Ask Bette White for starters. By the film's end, Dad and Miss Jensen are more than a definite item, the kids are happy to remain in their home, and the unemployed dad doesn't seem to be a big issue. That's where the film goes seriously wrong. This issue is played down. Really a **1/2 star film but I added the extra 1/2* since those clichés are interesting and often used.

I always look forward to all of David James Elliott's movies. I have been disappointed at the last few. They seem all like FLUFF movies. I know he is capable of roles with more 'meat' on them. He is a great actor but this hasn't come through in any movies. In the "Dad's Home" the story line was weak. He must have had a bundle of money saved for the way it looked like he was spending on his dates. I didn't see any mention of 'cutting back' as would have been the case for most families with the breadwinner out of a job. Maybe in some families but I thought the daughter going around telling her dad she loved him every time she saw him seemed a bit "much". The story line just seemed weak and DJE deserved better.

Once upon a time I was a big DJE fan. And he didn't do bad in this, exactly. I'm sorry to say the story just wasn't very good in my opinion. It felt more like a collection of scenes than any kind of real story. And what kind of ending was that? Did they realize he still didn't have a job? They played up the bad economy side of things but then made it seem as if giving up a job was no big deal in the end. And he must have had quite the load saved away as well as severance to not have a single money issue through all of this. Did you SEE that house? I just didn't buy the story at all. It seemed very random and disjointed. Given what they had to work with the actors did well enough in delivering lines that didn't sound like they were reading them but that's about all I can say for this one. And I had really looked forward to it before it aired. Some may say I'm being unduly harsh but trust me, I like a lot of pretty lame stuff and even I couldn't justify this one.

Moviecut—Dad's Home

source: Dad's Home

"Dad's Home" is a gentle family movie made for television. The writing is simple but decent, as are the main themes engaged here. The film has much in common with another film about an unemployed widower with two children, that being "We Bought a Zoo," starring Matt Damon. Here the family stays closer to home to discover their new lives with just a single dad to guide them. As with "We Bought a Zoo," a family working through grief is a main, albeit understated theme. David James Elliott carries the film, exhibiting a natural warmth in the main role, and is always handsomely upbeat throughout. Even when destroying a bag of groceries, shrinking clothing in the dryer or burning dinner on the oven, dad's bewilderment at facing domestic chores never destroys the character's innate optimism, which is only occasionally daunted by the memory of his late wife. The actor's choices are always positive and upbeat, especially when informing his children they'll be making a new life in Cleveland. Here, differing from "We Bought a Zoo," the choice is to remain at home in California, to keep the family intact and hopeful. There is no doubt that Dad will be able to find another job close to home. And his romance with the schoolteacher will be allowed to blossom. Of course, with the big bucks that came with the pressures of his old job in the ad game, we tacitly know that dad has invested wisely and can afford to keep up his home and family without uprooting them. His choice in turning down the Cleveland job reinforces his love of his children, which he exhibited consistently throughout the film, loving the kids unconditionally even when they were at their worst. The decision winds up being the only choice this character could have made. Were the title not already used for a former television family series, this TV movie could easily have been called, "Father Knows Best." I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

I always look forward to all of David James Elliott's movies. I have been disappointed at the last few. They seem all like FLUFF movies. I know he is capable of roles with more 'meat' on them. He is a great actor but this hasn't come through in any movies. In the "Dad's Home" the story line was weak. He must have had a bundle of money saved for the way it looked like he was spending on his dates. I didn't see any mention of 'cutting back' as would have been the case for most families with the breadwinner out of a job. Maybe in some families but I thought the daughter going around telling her dad she loved him every time she saw him seemed a bit "much". The story line just seemed weak and DJE deserved better.