Blu-ray Review: FATHERHOOD

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Jun 28, 2022 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Matt (Kevin Hart) and his wife Liz (Deborah Ayorinde, Them) are from the same hometown in Minnesota, but actually found each other in Boston. They are madly in love, but still feel a bit unprepared for the arrival of their baby girl, who is due any day. However, the happiest day in Matt’s life soon turns into the saddest as complications arise and Liz unexpectedly dies the day after Maddy is born, leaving Matt to raise their daughter on his own. While Matt starts to fall into a depression, there’s no time to grieve as he has to quickly adapt to taking care of this new life.

Matt’s mother Anna (Thedra Porter, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) and mother-in-law Marion (Alfre Woodard, See, Heart and Souls) stick around for the first few weeks to help out—Marion would move in for 6 months if Matt let her—but Matt knows that he’s going to have to learn to do things on his own. While everyone is supportive of Matt, they also all have their doubts when it comes to him caring for a baby on his own—that includes best friends Jordan (Lil Rel Howery, South Side) and Oscar (Anthony Carrigan, Barry), and boss Howard (Paul Reiser, Stranger Things). Marion would also love for Matt to move back to Minnesota and have her granddaughter grow up among family. But Matt is determined to prove them all wrong, first by overcoming the obstacles of caring for a newborn, and later on as new set of challenges arise with six-year-old Maddy Logelin (Melody Hurd, Them) starting kindergarten, and the pressures to reenter the dating world.

Fatherhood is both heartwarming and humorous, finding the perfect blend between the drama and the comedy. Kevin Hart feels so natural in this role, proving that he can do a lot more than just comedy. He can make you laugh one moment, and make your eyes feel a bit watery the next. Even though the film starts off in this very dark place, there is a lot of humor to help lighten the mood. Initially this comes from Matt’s best friends, single guy Jordan, and Matt’s ever-talkative married co-worker Oscar. These two bring so many laughs with their awkward and ridiculous stories that try but fail to cheer up their friend. There’s also the obvious physical humor that comes with a clueless new dad trying to change diapers and take care of a baby, but Matt also delivers some very funny dialogue of his own, as well as some hilarious banter between with his boss. The film also has some very emotional moments, such as watching Matt struggle at the funeral and mercy meal, or Marion grieving over the loss of her daughter. Alfre Woodard delivers an excellent and moving performance.

Just as Matt starts to get a handle on raising a baby, we jump ahead to follow a whole new dynamic and set of issues and relationships. Melody Hurd is delightful as 6-year-old Maddy, who has built this perfect routine with her father, and enjoys playing poker for cookies with Oscar and Jordan. However, as Maddy starts school, she also starts to feel a bit out of place. She doesn’t really like wearing skirts per the school uniform, and gets picked on. She also doesn’t have a mother like most of her classmates. Meanwhile, Oscar and his wife try to nudge Matt back into the dating world by not-very-inconspicuously setting him up with their single friend, Swan (DeWanda Wise, She’s Gotta Have It). But Matt worries about how his daughter will feel about a stranger joining the duo they’ve been for so long, and also feels a bit guilty due to the feelings his still has for his wife. However, DeWanda Wise is so fun and charming in this role, I don’t see how Matt could say no.

Fatherhood feels like two movies in one. The first half follows Matt struggling as the single father of a newborn baby, while the second half explores the challenges faced by the father of a six-year-old as well as what it’s like for a widowed man to reenter the dating world. I think both halves work quite well, and together make for a very entertaining film.

Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great. The picture is pristine and clear, with an excellent level of detail in close-ups of faces and hands. Colors are bright and beautiful, and the exterior shots in Boston look excellent. The audio track is also quite impressive, with clear dialogue and a full, delightful score throughout. The surround channel is well utilized to provide a constant, subtle and immersive feel, such as planes taking off at the airport or other general ambiance.

The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard HD keepcase without a slipcover. The release contains an insert with a code to redeem for an HD digital copy of the film (which is Movies Anywhere compatible). Unfortunately the release is barebones, containing no bonus material besides previews for four other Sony releases.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:49:05)

1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Descriptive Audio, French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, Indonesian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai

Digital (Limited time offer):

HD Digital Copy (Movies Anywhere compatible)

Extras:

Previews (10:19)
Trailers for A Journal for Jordan (2:21), Uncharted (2:29), Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (2:35), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2:54) play back-to-back.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

Fatherhood is an entertaining and heartwarming film that finds a nice blend between the drama and the humor. Kevin Hart gives a strong performance and is joined by an excellent supporting cast, who also bring a lot of laughs. Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great but does not include any bonus material. That said, I still recommend picking this up based on the quality of the film itself. For those who still wish to check out the movie for themselves before a blind buy, as of the time of this review, the film is still available to stream on Netflix.