Meeting Daddy

Meeting Daddy
Directed by Peter Gould, starring Josh Charles, Alexandra Wentworth, and Lloyd Bridges. For a film written and directed by the screenwriter of the Scott Wolf and Mark Dacascos film Double Dragon, Meeting Daddy is shockingly good.

Josh Charles plays Peter, a New Yorker struggling to deal with his girlfriend Melanie (Wentworth) and her family while visiting her sick father (Bridges) in the southern U.S. During his stay, Peter deals with religious incongruity, the searing southern summer heat, a cantankerous southern gentleman, and the most complex aspect of southern society, the frustratingly incomprehensible southern belle in her natural element.

Peter's fish-out-of-water feeling is very well portrayed by Josh Charles, who has excellent chemistry with Wentworth's Melanie, as well as her father. Charles' back and forth with Lloyd Bridge's crotchety "Colonel" is comedy gold, and an extremely satifying way to reveal bits about the characters to each other and themselves. As Charles' character futiley attempts to ingratiate himself with his girlfriend's family, Gould's use of shooting locations helps to convey the claustrophobic feeling, showing a much more intelligent director than one would expect for a directorial debut. The only real complaint I have about this film is the marketing, as this doesn't feel much like a happy-feel-good romcom at all.

If I were a film studies professor, I would use this film as a textbook example for how to subtley get the psychological elements of a character's pysche across. It almost has a German Expressionist feel to it, with the enclosed scenes taking place when the protagonist is at his most frustrated, and wide-open spaces serving as locales for his epiphinatic scenes. To pigeonhold Meeting Daddy as a simple romantic comedy is a great disservice to the film, and those who would see it. With assured direction, cultural habits masquerading as stereotypes, and pleasing performances, Meeting Daddy is a humorous, engaging, and even thoughtful treat.

Next Blog:
Part one of John Woo's epic Red Cliff.