Item: Old Dads
Rating: 6.9
Author: NextFlicks

Three best friends in their 50s find themselves navigating an unfamiliar world as old dads with young wives and kids in the Bill Burr comedy.

From comedian Bill Burr comes the latest hit Netflix comedy, Old Dads, a funny dive into the difficulties that older dads have in a more modern world of kids and parenting.

Written and directed by Burr, the movie also stars Bobby Cannavale and Bokeem Woodbine as three 50-somethings who all happen to have toddlers or babies on the way.

But what is it all about, and is Old Dads worth watching?

What Is Old Dads About?

Jack Kelly, Connor Brody, and Mike Richards are three best friends who have spent the last two decades building up a successful business they have recently sold.

The business partners only get their equity payout as long as they can hold on to their jobs, a task made even more difficult by the arrival of millennial CEO Aspen Bell.

As he dismantles their company from the ground up, it doesn't take long before the trio find themselves on the wrong side of political correctness and end up fired, losing everything they worked for.

To add to their troubles, Kelly has anger management issues, which result in a battle of wills with the preschool principal, Brody refuses to grow up and is permanently under his wife's thumb, and Richards thought he had the perfect girlfriend who didn't want children or get married – until she does.

As their lives begin to unravel, they must each decide on the kind of life they want. They love their wives and children but will have to change their ways if they don't want to end up alone.

So can they do it? Amidst battling preschool principals, an ill-advised trip to the strip club, trying to organise a fundraiser, three unhappy wives, and the loss of their company, can Jack, Connor, and Mike get themselves together and get their families back?

Old Dads Official Trailer

Is Old Dads Worth Watching?

I will start this review by saying that I genuinely love watching all three leads, particularly Bill Burr, especially after his hit animated series, F is for Family.

Old Dads is his directorial debut, and from the trailer looked like it would be really good fun to watch. And for the most part, it was.

It's an easy, likable movie that hits on some hot-button issues that, while exaggerated here, are painfully relatable for many people. The fact that the new CEO instantly fires anyone born before 1988 tells you everything you need to know about the new ‘gender neutral carbon neutral 21st-century lifestyle brand' absurd world that they find themselves in.

The cast is excellent, and the sharp one-liners are non-stop, but I actually felt sorry for the three guys at the end.

Sure, they got what they wanted insofar as they had their wives and kids back, but at what cost?

And that leads me to wonder what kind of film Bill Burr was trying to make? Yes, it's a comedy, and yes, the guys needed to dial it back, but the end result was one overriding message:

‘If you want to be happy and not find yourself alone in a crappy motel, then toe the line, don't make waves, suck up to people in charge, and whatever you do, never defend yourself lest you offend somebody.'

Old Dads redeemed itself by giving us a little update on what happened to some of the worst antagonists, which was fun karma.

Overall it was a laugh, but given that Bill Burr wrote it, I thought it would have a little more bite.