Old Dads is a 2023 American comedy film co-written and directed by and starring Bill Burr in his directorial debut.
51-year-old Jack Kelly (Burr) has a good life. For over 20 years he's been running his own business with his good friends Connor (Bobby Cannavale) and Mike (Bokeem Woodbine). He's got a wife (Katie Aselton) and son (Dash McCloud) whom he loves to bits and a nice home in the suburbs of California.
But California is a tough place for a guy Jack's age. Everyone younger than him is determined to maintain the generational gap, taking offense to just about everything he says and does. After selling their share of the business and promptly getting terminated by the new owner for insensitivity, Jack and his pals find their patience being put to the test.
Since this came from the same guy who did F is for Family, expect loads of profanity.
Tropes
- Babies Make Everything Better: Jack and Colin tell Mike this when he freaks out over his new girlfriend suddenly getting pregnant.
- Big Damn Heroes: When the guys are getting beaten up by bouncers at the strip joint, it's Aspen who ends up saving them by doing the most heroic thing Millennials usually do in these kind of situations: Filming the beating. It's implied that he ends up taking some serious lumps for this while Jack and his buddies make their escape.
- Country Matters: At least one mother claims that the word "cunt" is like the N-word for women. Jack sarcastically agrees with her before pointing out how she just compared herself to a demographic that was oppressed for centuries.
- Disco Dan: The dads are '80s addicts. They suggest holding an '80s-themed fundraiser and talk about having a threeway with Samantha Fox and Barbara Bush.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: The company that the dads worked under fired a majority of the workforce for being over 35. In the end, the dads use this against the company by suing them for ageism.
- Hypocritical Humor: Travis — a younger colleague of the dads — brags about how he's more enlightened than they are. Mike tests Travis by asking if he enjoys singing to rap music — specifically the N-word laden lyrics of NWA. When Travis tries to sidestep, Jack and Connor put on some NWA and push Travis into singing. Once he's in the groove, Travis comes very close to singing the N-word right into Mike's face, but catches himself a split-second before actually saying it.
- Later on, their boss Aspen reveals that he'd put cameras in Travis' home, revealing that Travis does in fact sing the N-word when it comes up in songs. For added hilarity, he even sings it while his mouth is full of cereal.
- During a party-planning, a millennial father accuses Jack and Connor of trying to dominate the group just because they're white men. Jack points out that the dad himself is a white man trying to dominate them.
- Aspen treats any microaggression as reason enough to fire somebody, but he finds himself forced into sensitivity training for appropriating the term "spirit animal" without checking to see how any indigenous tribes felt about it.
- Jerkass:
- Dr. Lois Schmieckel-Turner, a preschool owner who passive-aggressively uses her clout to emasculate dads over the slightest infraction, knowing that her reference will decide if any child under her care gets into a good school of not. Jack calls her out for jeopardizing his undeserving son's future just to spite Jack.
- Cara Brody and her son Colin, the latter for being a violent brat and the former for enabling him and acting like everyone else is wrong for not tolerating his bad behavior.
- The dad's new boss Aspen. He deliberately made them all sign a morality clause that would grant him the freedom to fire anybody without severance for the most minor of infractions. He goes the extra mile by hiding cameras in their cars and even their homes just so he can find some dirt on them.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: All three dads are products of their time, being ignorant to certain societal changes, having a low tolerance for bullshit and ditching their wives to hang out at a stripclub. Despite this, they're sincerely good men who genuinely don't mean any offence and have each other's backs. Jack in particular is shown to be a great dad and husband who doesn't even glance at a stripper.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Dr. Schmeickel-Turner is later arrested for embezzling school funds to pay off debts.
- Aspen later is fired for "cultural appropriation" under he rules he laid down. Jack and his buddies are gearing up to kick the shit out him when they chance upon him a hotel bar, but end up pitying him when he breaks down crying over it.
- May–December Romance: All three dads have noticeably younger wives. Deconstructed, as the generational gap leads to several instances where their wives find their behaviour unacceptable but are unable to explain why.
- N-Word Privileges: Travis knows he doesn't have these and refuses to say the word in front of Mike even if it's a lyric in a rap. Behind closed doors however, he enjoys saying the word quite a bit. This gets him fired.
- Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: Connor's wife Cara is this combined with Granola Girl. She micromanages Connor while refusing to discipline their out of control son. When her kid hits the heavily pregnant Leah in her belly, Leah is understandably furious, but Cara only chides Leah for raising her voice.
- Political Correctness Is Evil:
- Jack gets publicly humiliated by the head of his son's pre-school Dr. Lois Schmieckel-Turner for calling her a "stumpy cunt" after she agitated him. This involves apologizing to everyone who took offense on her behalf, along with all of the younger parents telling Jack that even if they weren't around to witness the incident, they still found something personally offensive about his behavior.
- The dads' boss Aspen spies on his employees outside of work hours so he can catch them violating the morality clauses in their contracts and terminate their employment. For any employees who haven't violated their contracts, he just waits until they turn 35 and fires them on that alone.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Jack, despite having a black friend. Best seen when he calls some road hog on an E-scooter a cocksucker within earshot of a gay couple. When they stare daggers at him, Jack doesn't immediately understand why they're offended. He and the other dads also talk about banging Samantha Fox. He also mentions Caitlyn Jenner in a crass manner, but he doesn't seem particularly disgusted by transgenderism and the people who were offended by that instance were trying to be offended.
- Political Overcorrectness: The titular dads find themselves dealing with a series of Millennials who deconstruct any inherent prejudices in their language or behavior. It gets to the point where they end up losing their jobs after their boss films them without their knowledge talking about Caitlyn Jenner in a less than reverent tone.
- Serious Business: While Leah has a point that Jack needs to keep his temper in check, it's hard to fully sympathize with her when the primary concern she keeps melting down over is getting their son into a prestigious pre-kindergarten school, something very few (if any) college admissions departments would give a rat's ass about.
- Silver Fox: Colin is treated like this due to not going bald. A stripper correctly guesses that he's 49 because of his neck.
- Spoiled Brat: Connor's son Colin could give that kid from The Slap a run for his money. He beats up Jack's son Nate and hits Leah in her very-pregnant belly, never once showing any likable moments to balance these out (which admittedly would be an uphill struggle). When Jack trips Colin, you will cheer for him.
- Took a Level in Kindness: By the end of the movie Jack has gained a better grip on his temper. Best displayed when he sees a guy on an E-scooter crash into his bins and he immediately shows concern for the man's well-being.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Mike is 50 years old and looks it. His girlfriend is at least 20 years younger than himself and has a smoking hot body.
