REVIEW #56 FATHERHOOD (2021)

Fatherhood is a film directed by Paul Weitz and follows single father Matthew who loses his wife just after she gives birth to their first child. We see him deal with the challenges of raising a child and also getting back into the world of dating. This is an emotional film about fatherhood, friendship and family.

CAST & THE ACTING 

Kevin Hart is Matthew the widowed father and I believe this is the best performance I have seen from him in terms of acting range. We all know him as one of the funniest actors in Hollywood but Fatherhood showcases his other talents as his character deals with grief and an array of other emotions. He creates such a likeable character which really gets the audience invested in his journey as a father. Melody Hurd plays his young daughter Maddie and for such a young actress she delivers a great performance, bringing so much personality to the character. The other cast members include Anthony Carrigan, DeWanda Wise, Alfre Woodard and Lil Rey Howery, who all bring a nice comedic energy into the film.

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

I do like the plot and although it is very predictable it was the perfect storyline to draw out a different side of Kevin Hart that perhaps audiences haven’t seen before. It also touches on a number of different issues such as how the single father is viewed and how they are often underestimated as parents. I also appreciated the issues raised about how girls are expected to be, Maddie enjoys wearing trousers instead of a skirt and likes batman boxers over girls underwear and in this film she is teased for that and almost blamed by her teachers. This highlights how as a society kids need to have a right to be free from stereotypes and to be able to do what makes them happy, so that was a nice touch. The films has its emotional parts and as with usual Kevin Hart films it is very funny at times too. However as I mentioned it is a little predictable but I think I knew it would be when I read the description, so I expected that. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

There isn’t much to talk about here, no special effects were needed and the cinematography was pretty basic. I wasn’t expecting anything special in this category so I think it would be unfair to judge Fatherhood based on this.

OVERALL (7.5/10)

I did enjoy this film, the acting was good and it was nice to see Kevin Hart showcase a wider variety of acting ability with his character Matthew. It’s a nice mix of emotion and comedy and is one of them films you can just watch pretty easily with the storyline being nice and simple. It is a little predictable at times but that is what I expected with the type of film this is. There was nothing to discuss in terms of cinematography and special effects but overall it was a good watch so I would certainly recommend this film. 

Thanks for reading!

Callan