My Review of "Fatherhood"

Fatherhood is the latest 2021 exclusive release from Netflix. It also happens to be Kevin Hart's latest movie. We've seen him go into more serious roles lately starting from "The Upside". Here Kevin pushes the boundaries of his abilities yet again. It's becoming quite apparent that he's trying to reach and see what's beyond the horizons for his career. I think it's a great approach to keep up with his ever evolving life.

This movie starts off with a very loving couple about to have a baby. Our main character Matt and his wife Liz are about to have a baby. You can tell the two are madly in love with each other and are excited for the new addition to their family.

The movie does a good job in establishing the relationships between Matt and all of his friends and family from the very beginning. Everything is laid out there and easy to understand. It feels particularly comfortable because a lot of his situation is quite relatable. Much of the scenarios in this story can be visualized in real life.

When the two finally have the baby you can see the overjoy of the family and in particular the happy couple. That's when the whole movie turns upside down for Matt. There is some sort of complication that happens to Liz that ends her life.

Devastated, Matt doesn't know what to do but he does have a great support system. This area is very well done because a lot of us do have good support systems but we don't know how to adjust to such crazy changes in life. Especially a traumatic loss of a loved one. It's really hard for any of us to identify with this sort of loss. I think the movie does a good job in exploring Matt's psyche during his time of grief.

The movie doesn't take it easy either. With the added pressures of responsibilities of the job and the duty to keep his daughter Maddy healthy he's lost a bit of himself. This movie explores the meaning of selfishness. A constant question that comes into play is how much time should he have his friends and family help with his daughter. He wants her to himself but what's really best for Maddy? There's a constant tug of war going on in his head and you can see the conflict in Matt as he's trying to adjust to his ever changing life.

He's also juggling a budding relationship with a potential partner, his friendships with his regular friends and his a blossoming work career. That's a lot for one person to take as a single father. All this while still grieving over the passing of his wife Liz.

I like that he constantly goes to others to seek help. You don't really see too much of that in movies. Usually there's a hero in the story that gets help from one person or learns the truth about something from piecing things in their head at the end. In this case, Matt actually goes to his friends, family and even support groups for help. He gathers a lot of their information and even after the issues have been addressed there's no real right answer. This makes the movie feel even more genuine and real. We've all been in those situations. Really, there are no right answers but the best possible answer you can give at that particular moment.

Overall, this is a pretty thought provoking movie that I was glad I was able to see. I'm hoping viewers get as much out of this movie as I did. It's of course got some fun scenes in there but the point of it is Matt's life journey. I have to give this movie a 7.5 out of 10. It is worth recommending to friends. You can enjoy this movie even if you're not a single parent.