''I Love My Dad'' is a 2022 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by

James Morosini James Morosini (born July 5, 1990) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for writing, directing, and starring in ''I Love My Dad'', which Morosini based on his own experiences. Morosini is also known for his roles in ''The Sex Live ...

, inspired by actual events in his life. It stars

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

, Morosini, and

Claudia Sulewski Claudia Sulewski (born February 19, 1996) is an American YouTuber, host and actress. In 2009, she started making videos on her YouTube channel in her hometown of Chicago, before moving to Los Angeles in 2014, where she jumped into hosting. A ye ...

. The film premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

on March 12, 2022, and in theaters in the United States on August 5, 2022.

Premise

After Franklin blocks his father Chuck on social media, Chuck "

catfishes Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

" his son by impersonating a waitress named Becca online. Chuck then agrees to drive Franklin to

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

to meet Becca, knowing that it might be the last straw in their father-son relationship.

Cast

as Chuck *

as Franklin *

as Becca *

Rachel Dratch Rachel Susan Dratch (born February 22, 1966) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. After she graduated from Dartmouth College she moved to Chicago to study improvisational theatre at The Second City and ImprovOlympic. Her breakthrough r ...

as Erica * Ricky Velez as Derek *

Lil Rel Howery Milton "Lil Rel" Howery Jr. (born December 17, 1979) is an American actor and comedian. Howery is known for playing Robert Carmichael in NBC's television comedy series ''The Carmichael Show'' (2015–2017) and Transportation Security Administratio ...

as Jimmy * Amy Landecker as Diane

Production

Principal photography took place in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

. Filming wrapped in June 2021.

Release

The film premiered at

on March 12, 2022. In April 2022,

Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Mag ...

acquired the film's distribution rights. It was released in theaters on August 5, 2022, and on demand on August 12, 2022.

Reception

Critical response

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for ''Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

at ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'' praised Oswalt's performance, Morosini's screenplay, and the use of social media to refine the

show, don't tell Show, don't tell is a technique used in various kinds of texts to allow the reader to experience the story through actions, words, thoughts, senses, and feelings rather than through the author's exposition, summarization, and description. It av ...

technique. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

''s John DeFore gave positive notes to Morosini's direction and called it "a surprisingly gentle take on a potentially explosive premise." Nick Allen at RogerEbert.com gave it a 3.5/4 and praised Sulewski as the movie's "comic MVP", adding that she "plays into both 'Becca' exaggerations so thoughtfully, that by the third act her actual Becca has a special poignancy and agency." David Ehrlich at

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

gave it a B-, praising Morosini for "keeping the perversity of it all intact" and Sulewski's performance to be "elastic", while adding that it would have "been a more satisfying experience had it swerved away from decency and good taste even harder than it already does ..

Accolades

At the South by Southwest film festival, the film won the Jury and Audience Awards in the Narrative Feature Competition.

References

External links

* 2022 films 2022 comedy films American comedy films Films shot in New York (state) 2020s English-language films Films about social media 2020s American films {{2020s-US-film-stub