It’s impossible to contemplate this film without thinking about the personal life of Kevin Hart. I have no doubt that Fatherhood was a carefully selected project by either an agent or entire team of agents and well-wishers looking to improve Kevin’s PR. It doesn’t really matter. For whatever reason Kevin Hart chose to make Fatherhood, I believe this was the very best decision he has ever made in his entire career. For the first time in my own life, I see Kevin Hart as more than a loud comedian; I see him as a father, as a husband, and as a very talented actor.
Fatherhood opens with a funeral. Matt (Hart) stands at the dais and dejectedly concludes: “this sucks.” Yeah, that describes pretty much every funeral I’ve ever attended. Beginning with funeral is better choice than beginning with a wedding. I’ve seen a fair amount of the latter, and the film has nowhere to go but down at that point. Opening with a funeral tells you the worst has already happened, and we’re going get through this together, performers and audience alike.
Matt’s wife didn’t die in childbirth; a pulmonary embolism claimed her the following day. That’s an elation-to-downer race on the order of Jan 5, 2021 to Jan 6, 2021 (but on a personal, not a national level, of course). And there Matt is, new father, new widower. I didn’t know what to do as a first time father and my wife was there; I can’t even guess what Matt might be going through. To her credit, Matt’s mother-in-law Marion (Alfre Woodard) waited several hours before pointing out that this task was above Matt’s abilities. She might not be wrong. And the primary question in Matt’s mind is (as it should be), “What is best for my daughter?”
You probably don’t have a film if Matt gives up Maddy to the Minnesota in-laws instead of treating her to a Boston life. There’s one minor bone I had to pick with this film in that I’ve spent a fair amount of time in both Boston and Minneapolis and –lemme tell ya- the days are not always sunny and warm in either city. I am quite certain of that. It’s a little bit of cheat to show Matt never having to battle the weather as well as his daughter’s hair.
Many of us wish we had better friends. The knuckleheads Matt hangs with, Jordan (Lil Rel Howery) and Oscar (Anthony Carrigan), are almost ideally suited to be helpless in a situation that requires co-parenting.
Matt is really on his own here, and this is where Kevin Hart’s manic woe-is-me sense of humor shines. In the background of a stage, all we have is Kevin Hart’s perspective; within the context of genuine life, suddenly Kevin Hart doesn’t seem like the overreacting moron of his alter ego. His moments with Maddy, infant, and Maddy, six-year-old, are truly among the best family moments in film over the past year.
It takes a pretty hard heart not to enjoy Fatherhood. It is the story of one very likable man trying to be the best father he can be, with both successes and failures. It is a simple film, yes, and yet it speaks to anyone who has ever found parenting a challenge – in other words, anyone who has ever tried to be a parent. This is Kevin Hart’s best film to date; in addition, this bittersweet reflection is the best film writer/director Paul Weitz has made since About A Boy. Back to Kevin – watching Fatherhood, I got the same feel as I got for Awkwafina in The Farewell: I’m no longer watching a comedian; I’m watching an actor, and good one. I like Kevin Hart. I knew he was funny. I knew he was entertaining. I had no idea he had this much depth. If that sounds condescending, I’m sorry, but Kevin, your films rarely ask you to do more than some sort of manchild scream on demand. From now on, I hope they ask more of you.
There once was a man named Matt
Whose wife after birth lined flat
Take this, my brother
From one father to another
Good luck, you will need all of that
Rated PG-13, 109 Minutes
Director: Paul Weitz
Writer: Dana Stevens and Paul Weitz
Genre: Kevin Hart, human
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Kevin Hart’s family
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Anybody hoping for Ride Along 3
