One of the best ways for an up-and-coming filmmaker to make their mark is to cast a well-known actor in their projects. I’ll admit that I’m always intrigued to find a performer I know and like taking on a role in a small independent film, since it’s evidently not the prospect of a big paycheck that drew them to it. Patton Oswalt is someone I think I would watch in anything, and it turns out he’s also the star who could make a dad catfishing his own son seem somehow endearing…
I Love My Dad begins with a typical title card: “The following actually happened.” But it follows it up with a less expected and humorous note: “My dad asked me to tell you it didn’t.” This film comes from writer-director James Morosini, who plays Franklin, a version of himself. His father Chuck (Oswalt) has long been a source of disappointment, reliably absent when his family needed him the most. When Franklin blocks Chuck on Facebook, Chuck becomes desperate to reconnect, copying the online profile of a local waitress, Becca (Claudia Sulewski), so that he can find a way back into his life.
I distinctly remember sitting in a screening of the 2010 film Catfish and learning about the big twist that would popularize the expression. While that was an off-putting, eerie experience, this film is the opposite. Its title and that opening card indicate that this filmmaker is clearly at a point where he can look back and reflect on this ordeal in a lighthearted way, and that he understands why his father, who wasn’t some random person he didn’t know trying to get his money or his information, did what he did. I Love My Son might be a more accurate title, but it’s emblematic of how we’re not supposed to hate Chuck, even if what he does is often cringe-worthy.
Morosini, who has a recurring role on HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls, has directed one feature before this, 2018’s Threesomething. His script and filmmaking style are inviting, imagining the online communications its two protagonists have as physical meetings, which allows a serious romance to build between Franklin and Becca as Chuck frantically types away on his phone. There are moments in which Chuck contemplates the hole he’s digging for himself and sees how he’s crossed the line, but he only leans more into it to help maintain the illusion of happiness for his son. It’s a film filled with humor and heart, and terrific performances from all three actors and Amy Landecker as Franklin’s mom. Morosini, who is only thirty-one years old, is a filmmaker who shows great promise, and I Love My Dad is an affirming blast. B+
I Love My Dad makes its world premiere in the Narrative Feature Competition at the SXSW Film Festival.