Film Review: I LOVE MY DAD: Entertaining Dramedy is One of the Year’s Best Films [SXSW 2022]

I Love My Dad Review

I Love My Dad (2022) Film Review from the 29th Annual South by Southwest Film Festival, a movie directed by James Morosini and starring Patton Oswalt, James Morosini, Claudia Sulewski, Lil Rel Howery, Rachel Dratch, J.P. Edwards, Ricky Velez, Afrim Gjonbalaj, Sarah Helbringer, Patrick Klein, Amy Landecker, Ricky Pak and Jon Seeber.

Sometimes a movie strikes you as so genuinely heartfelt and sincere that it could change your whole outlook on life. Such is the case with director James Morosini’s absolutely fantastic comic drama, I Love My Dad which stars the incomparable Patton Oswalt in one of the year’s best performances. This film details the way a father tries to win back the love of his son and is absolutely wonderful in its ability to convey deep emotions as well as provide some great scenes of comedy as well.

I Love My Dad is the story of Chuck (Oswalt) who wants to get to know his young son Franklin (James Morosini, the director) better. Chuck is divorced from Franklin’s mother (Amy Landecker). Rachel Dratch, in a terrific turn, plays Chuck’s new girlfriend while the always reliable Lil Rel Howery plays Chuck’s best friend and confidante. Franklin has some emotional issues that hold him back from having a true bond with his estranged dad. When Chuck goes to a diner one day, he meets a friendly waitress named Becca (the radiant and talented Claudia Sulewski). He sees her as a perfect fit for his son. She’s beautiful and charismatic. However, Becca serves as a reminder that Chuck wants to re-establish his bond with his son.

Chuck does something absolutely despicable. He steals Becca’s pictures from an online website and creates a profile. He adds Franklin as a friend, but poor Franklin believes he is being friend requested by a beautiful waitress, not his dad, and accepts the request. Keep in mind Franklin has blocked his father from online communications with him. This sets off a chain of events which are, at times, frustrating but always intriguing to watch. Chuck goes so far as to buy a new cell phone to text his son as Becca. Chuck is essentially catfishing Franklin.

My favorite scenes in I Love of My Dad show how Franklin perceives Becca as a person. Becca’s personality, created by Chuck, becomes a fleshed-out character in the film. Sulewski creates the Becca of Franklin’s dreams to perfection. We see scenes of the imagined Becca and Franklin gleefully interacting and as Franklin starts to re-establish his relationship with his father, things get more complicated because Franklin is falling in love with the Becca which Chuck has created. It’s a complex dilemma within the film and is fascinating to watch.

Oswalt has never been better. He makes Chuck into a relatable character even though what he is doing is utterly disgusting in some respects. Another film may have turned Chuck into a total loser but in Oswalt’s hands, we sympathize with him and want to see him become reunited with his son. It’s just the whole situation that is occurring throughout which makes that hard as Chuck text messages Franklin as Becca even when he’s in the same room as Franklin! This makes for some hilarious scenes throughout the movie as well.

Towards the end of the film, Chuck text messages Franklin (as Becca) while driving and makes typos which Sulewski’s imagined Becca speaks to Franklin and this scene is quite amusing. I love the way the film uses the character of Becca and juxtapositions the Becca that Franklin creates in his mind to the Becca that really is (she has a boyfriend so a real relationship with Franklin is out of the question even if he did actually speak to her in real life).

James Morosini, as the troubled Franklin, delivers a wonderful, sincere performance. To learn that he directed this film is even more of a surprise since it is so well crafted and sincere. Oswalt and Morosini share some great scenes together that are emotionally moving, and the father/son bond is expertly conveyed on screen though the on-point acting, the smart writing and the capable direction.

I Love My Dad is, simply put, the kind of gem that audiences love to discover and experience at a film festival. A tender, genuine movie about real relationships is hard to find. Oswalt keeps his character walking on a tightrope between being likable and being pathetic the whole entire movie and, to my surprise, I didn’t want to see his character crumble for what he does to his son. Everything about I Love My Dad is first rate and Claudia Sulewski is a true star-in-the-making. It is a film to put at the top of your must-see list.

Rating: 9.5/10

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