Movies

Father Figures

Threadbare comedy about estranged fraternal twins (Owen Wilson and Ed Helms) who belatedly learn from their mother (Glenn Close) that the man she long ago told them was their deceased father was, in fact, just a friend of hers, and that their real dad may be alive — though her promiscuous past makes it impossible for her to identify for sure which of many candidates he might be. This discovery launches the siblings on a road trip during which they visit a series of contenders, the first being famed football star Terry Bradshaw, playing himself. Director Lawrence Sher’s formulaic feature debut quickly sinks into a stupor from which only an energetic turn from Katt Williams as a hitchhiker does it briefly emerge. And the distasteful premise is matched by a worm’s-eye view of human sexuality throughout, although the resolving plot twist can be seen as vaguely pro-life.

Watch out for: Pervasive sexual and some scatological humor, an incest theme, a premarital bedroom scene, about a dozen uses of profanity, a couple of milder oaths, constant rough and crude language.

Rated: L, limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling; MPAA: R

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