‘Dealing With Dad’ Review: A Family Dysfunction

“Dealing With Dad,” a low-budget indie from the writer-director Tom Huang, is a surprisingly lighthearted film about two critical topics: generational trauma and persistent despair. It tells the story of three siblings — the high-strung workaholic Margaret (Ally Maki), the layabout comedian e book nerd Larry (Hayden Szeto) and the timid, recently-separated Roy (Peter S. Kim) — who should return to their household house to assist care for his or her father (Dana Lee), disconsolate and bedridden after being laid off from his lifelong job. Though involved for him, the children are conflicted, having suffered at their father’s considerably tyrannical palms rising up. The movie is at its most compelling when tackling this pressure between care and resentment head-on — it has a hoop of reality that’s sadly squandered each time Huang reaches for straightforward laughs.

The comedy isn’t spiky and tightly wound up across the darker materials, as it’s in, say, “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “Heathers” or “Little Miss Sunshine.” Rather the humor is glib and fatuous, with the broad, clichéd tone of an old school community sitcom. Lame fats jokes, gags about somebody being gender-fluid and outdated punch strains about “American Idol” and Tucker Max abound.

At one level, the siblings dine out at an ostensibly upscale restaurant, and there are over-the-top complaints about arugula on pizza. It wouldn’t have been humorous in 2005, when fancy-food jokes have been a minimum of much less stale. In a contemporary movie a couple of household’s strained efforts to handle their patriarch’s psychological sickness, nonetheless, it demonstrates a essential misunderstanding of the fabric’s strengths. The household is hurting. Dumbing them down doesn’t assist.

Dealing With Dad
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes. Rent or purchase on most main platforms.