Who better to helm a documentary about the entity that is fatherhood than the supremely talented daughter of a master filmmaker? Bryce Dallas Howard has achieved something truly special with her AppleTV+ film, Dads. Just in time for Father’s Day, her cinematic salute to the patriarchs out there will simultaneously warm your heart, soothe your soul and above all else—spur many a phone call home.
The film is pure joy and firmly for all audiences (although there is some swearing). Some may think that the Apple TV+ doc is firmly for dads who seek validation. Others may see the Dads watching experience as a way to celebrate their own paternal influences. The thing that is so magical about Howard’s film is how the filmmaker has embraced the notion that in 2020, the definition of what makes a father has drastically altered from where it was decades prior. That being said, the film also celebrates today’s dad and how he wants to buck tradition and not solely be that provider who welcomes a child and days later returns to work.
Dads bookends fascinating fathers the globe over with celebrity interviews conducted by Howard (including some great scenes with her own father, filmmaker and national treasure, Ron Howard). From Will Smith, Judd Apatow (The King of Staten Island), Jimmy Fallon, Ken Jeong (The Hangover movies, The Masked Singer), Neil Patrick Harris, Jimmy Fallon to Conan O’Brien, Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live) and more. Every single one gifts unique stories that reflect that shifting dynamic that is the modern father.
Often times with documentaries, the celebrity contribution can serve little more than having a name (or names) to get the film green-lit and most importantly, draw in people to see it. The famous folks deliver insightful commentary, and each reflects their own experience with being a father and how that compared to the expectations and wants of their own dads. There is also a common thread that unites all of the contributions and that is that collective sense that life stopped being about “me” and instantly morphed into “he” or “she” that singular moment when a baby is welcomed to the world. Witnessing these stars reduced to tears recalling that moment (and many other fatherhood celebratory moments) their lives changed is powerful and an instant every male can share. That kind of vast and far-reaching emotive tether between those appearing on screen and the viewer is rare in the medium of film.
That sentiment was particularly powerful coming from the various everymen as they relayed their own experience with fatherhood, both as one and as a son. Howard took her camera to all corners of the world and whether Brazil, Japan, or San Diego, she miraculously found souls that embodied the mission of the film itself and exponentially added to its resonance. Hearing these dads’ struggles speaks to the rawest of truths and shines a spotlight on the uncanny splendor that is fatherhood. Each brings home the narrative about the further involvement of men in the parenting process and, frustratingly, also exposes how paternity leave in America is so far out of touch with what today’s males seek from those first months of dad-dom. The dads of Dads are impeccably chosen. Hearing their parental journey—from having one to being one—elevates the richness of Howard’s storytelling. There are some truly heartbreaking moments that find their way past heartwarming to heart-exploding… have tissues at the ready.
For example, Jimmy Kimmel made headlines soon after his son Billy’s birth when doctors found a congenital heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia that required immediate surgery. The late-night talk show host and comedian contributes many a laugh during the doc, but it is the description of the horrorshow that is wondering whether your child will live that is most profound. That also provided a priceless and meaningful segue to a subject whose son too had an open heart operation soon after birth and whose health struggles continue to this day.
Howard makes her directorial debut with Dads, after helming a few shorts and a thrilling episode of The Mandalorian (in the same cinematic universe as her father’s Solo!). Her command of tone coupled with that Howard innate storytelling gene and her vested commitment to this subject matter—it is a beautiful and blissful celebration of fatherhood. She interviewed and filmed her late paternal grandfather years before as part of this project illustrating that this daddy’s girl had been gestating this baby for a long time. Rance Howard died on November 25, 2017. The film is dedicated to him.
The filmmaker intertwines deeply personal interviews with footage contributed by her subjects showcasing their style of rearing, some viral videos, and rare Howard home movies. One comes away with one singular sensation—you guessed it, thinking about pop, dad, daddy … whatever moniker you utilize. If you’re lucky enough that they are still with us, The Movie Mensch predicts a phone call in your very near future.
Grade: A