Lithgow’s character is so delightfully conceived and performed with so many perfect details that Don practically deserves his own sitcom. There’s a genius dad joke involving a thermostat that would have been that much funnier with more time, but the film zips through it and other jokes and plot points to fit them all in. The mania produced by four warring dads, two moms and several precocious kids means the film almost never stops to breathe or let a bit run its full course. With the added dads around, those antics become frantic. Christmas, of course, lends itself well to gags involving power tools, snow blowers, lights and so forth. Wahlberg is breathy and exasperated, while Ferrell executes the naive oaf routine he does so well, lending his clumsy physicality to all manner of bodily injury, accidents and mishaps. The thing that really makes the “Daddy’s Home” films work is the strange chemistry between Wahlberg and Ferrell. Then there’s Dusty’s father, Kurt (Mel Gibson), who goes by El Padre with the kids and is a womanizing, virulently macho astronaut who wants to give his grandchildren guns for Christmas. Jon Lithgow is brilliantly cast as Brad’s dad, Don, aka Pop Pop, a chatty retired mailman with cookies in his pocket. In the original movie two years ago, sweetie stepdad Brad (Ferrell) managed to exert his sensitive, progressive influence on tough guy Dusty (Wahlberg), but it’s a whole new ballgame when their fathers come to town. The surreal and silly sequel to a 2015 comedy hit skates on the comic talent of stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Both films are seasonal romps about intergenerational love, acceptance and different parenting styles, but “Daddy’s Home 2” slightly gets the edge. “Daddy’s Home 2” just might have to meet “A Bad Moms Christmas” outside in the parking for a rumble.
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