A genuine half good film - not bad, quite endearing, with a top premise and some great moments, but it doesn't come together. It doesn't help that Vince Vaughan, who should have been ideal casting, seems bored and uninterested in the lead, as if he's going through the motions - there's none of that classic spark.
Cobie Smudlers isI completely wasted in her nothing part - her whole relationship with Vaughan felt ill-defined and tacked on (what did they have in common? why were they together? I lost track of when they were going out and when they weren't). Chris Pratt scores some goals as Vaughan's friend but even this felt weak.
I haven't seen the Canadian original but have heard this is close - in which case that was a mistake; this could have done with some good old fashioned "punching up". Subplots come and go - like the money Vaughan owes to bookies, his cop girlfriend, the various children, the basketball team, allusions to Vaughan's past. Support characters feel undeveloped like Vaughan's brothers, and some are totally ignored - like we never see any of the mothers or foster/adoptive fathers - none. There were so many children that I know they couldn't devote much time, but why then so much to the unfunny Viggo (the gag is meant to be he was vegetarian, is that right? That's not worth all the screen time). You wish they'd done stuff like Vaughan seducing one of the mothers, or stopping siblings from hooking up
Still, it's heart was in the right place, it has a positive message of love and kindness, and I really liked the subplot of Vaughan finding out one of his children was severely handicapped.
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