The cringiest comedy of the year may be “I Love My Dad,” a film in which Patton Oswalt plays an estranged dad who catfishes his own son in order to desperately reconnect with him. And stranger yet is the fact that the story is based on something that really happened to the film’s writer, director and star.
“I Love My Dad” was written, directed and stars James Morosini, who in the film plays Franklin, a 20-something coping with his own mental health who takes the step of blocking his father’s contact after years of being absent and broken promises.
But his father Chuck (Oswalt) still has good intentions and comes up with the idea to impersonate a waitress online in order to stay in touch, only to inadvertently start a romantic online relationship with him.
The film was a hit at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, winning the Grand Jury Prize at the festival. And because Morosini explains in the film that his own real life father actually catfished him as well, the film finds some unexpected depth, emotion and drama. Though as the first trailer for the film above shows, it’s very funny as well.
“This is creepy as f—,” Lil Rel Howery says in the trailer. “This is your child. What if he’s already masturbating to this?”
Starring alongside Morosini, Oswalt and Howery are Rachel Dratch, Claudia Sulewski, Amy Landecker and Ricky Velez.
Magnolia is releasing the film in theaters on August 5. Check out the first trailer for “I Love My Dad” below.
