Bill Burr is one of the best stand-up comics in the world, and he’s a fine character actor as evidenced by his solid turns on “Breaking Bad” and in “The King of Staten Island,” which makes it all the more disappointing that Burr’s Netflix original film “Old Dads” is such lukewarm, bet-hedging, predictable fare. Given the unapologetic, sharp-edged tone of Burr’s comedy, it’s surprising that as director, co-writer and star of this vehicle, he played it so safe.
The setup of “Old Dads” holds promise. Burr’s Jack is a 50ish guy who became a dad relatively late in life, with his funny, smart, beautiful and long-suffering wife Leah (the always wonderful Katie Aselton) now expecting their second child. Jack’s best friends and business partners, Bobby Canavale’s Connor and Bokeem Woodbine’s Mike, are in similar situations and have similar worldviews, i.e., they have little patience for millennials and Gen Z and still think it’s funny to crack jokes about stuff you’re not supposed to be joking about in 2023. When a younger dad tries to offer Jack some parenting advice, Jack responds, “Listen, I’m trying to raise a little man here, not a f---ing p----.” So why don’t you go back to your hard seltzer and go on Twitter and share the story where you’re the hero?”
That kind of thing.
Jack and friends are surrounded by touchy-feely, New Age idiocy. The smarmy new boss (Miles Robbins) at the company they founded and recently sold tells them, “This company is now a gender-neutral, carbon-neutral, 21st century lifestyle apparel brand. And the first step in that is to liberate everyone born before 1988.” Connor’s icy wife (Jackie Tohn) is allowing their young son to become an absolute monster (the kid literally punches Jack’s pregnant wife in the stomach) and tells Connor, “You need to respect your son’s autonomy and really let him process how crossing [boundaries] is affecting his ever-evolving moral code.” Then there’s the condescending, smug, insufferable but influential Dr. Lois Schmieckel-Turner (Rachael Harris), who runs the local preschool and humiliates Jack for being a couple of minutes late in picking up his child, prompting Jack to go off on a rant that ends with an ugly insult.
Not that Jack comes off as particularly sympathetic, especially when he’s resorting to cheap jokes and cringe-inducing insults. He’s not just an Old Dad; he’s kind of an ass----. Just because he’s dealing with a changing world that can be admittedly insufferable doesn’t mitigate that. Jack also has some serious temper issues, which doesn’t necessarily make for great comedy — but we’re intrigued to see where this is all going.
Will Jack hold true to his outdated ways and somehow persevere in a politically correct world, or will he learn to adapt to the times and become a better man? “Old Dads” veers this way and that but goes softer along the way; even an extended trip to a casino, where the old dads intend to really let loose, fails to pay off. By the time we get to the clichéd scene of the dad rushing to the hospital as his wife is about to give birth, “Old Dads” has succumbed to a case of terminal corniness.
