Daddy's Home

Mild-mannered radio executive Brad (Will Ferrell) struggles to be a good stepfather to his wife Sara's (Linda Cardellini) two children, Megan and Dylan. The children begin to grow closer to Brad, with Dylan confiding in him that he is being bullied and Megan asking him to take her to a father/daughter dance at her school. One night, the kids biological father Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) calls, and discovers that Sara has remarried. He subsequently and suddenly announces he will be visiting the next day. Sara is apprehensive about her ex-husband being in their home, but Brad convinces her that it is important for the kids that their father and stepfather establish boundaries with each other. When Dusty arrives, Brad is immediately intimidated by his more attractive and muscular appearance, and how easily he gets along with Megan and Dylan - however, Dusty continually charms Brad into allowing him to stay, even though Sara warns him about the kind of man that Dusty is. Brad soon wises up when it becomes clear that Dusty intends to drive Brad out of his kids lives and reconcile with Sara. After multiple instances of Dusty showing Brad up - including getting the kids a dog, finishing a treehouse that Brad wanted to build with Dylan, and attempting to drive a wedge between Brad and Sara by taking them to a fertility doctor (Bobby Cannavale), hoping that Brad's inability to give Sara a baby will send her into Dusty's arms, the two men appear to reach an understanding after working together to teach Dylan how to defend himself against bullies. Additionally, Brad and Sara are overjoyed to learn that Brad's sperm count has risen significantly (implied to be a result of Dusty "invading his territory"), giving them hope of having a child together. However, Brad is stunned when Dusty reveals that he still intends to drive Brad out of the family. Desperate, Brad spends tens of thousands of dollars on early Christmas gifts, including a pony and 18,000 dollar seats at a basketball game. At the game, Dusty once again shows Brad up by revealing himself to be friends with the coach to Dylan's favorite team, and an enraged Brad begins drinking heavily. During half-time, Brad is picked to try to shoot a basketball to win a prize. Drunk, Brad goes on a rant about Dusty before accidentally pelting a cheerleader and a disabled child in the face with basketballs. Sara kicks Brad out of the house; however, when Dusty tries to comfort her, she rejects him, and forces him to step up as a dad to help his kids with their busy schedules. Four days later, Brad is living in his office at work, depressed. Dusty, meanwhile, is overwhelmed by the many responsibilities of being a full time father. When Dusty decides to call it quits and leave on the day of Megan's father-daughter dance, his friend Griff (Hannibal Buress) goes to Brad and convinces him to fight for his family. Brad catches Dusty at the airport and tries to get him to come back. Dusty admits that he cannot handle the hard parts about being a father, and admires Brad for putting up with all the things that he has to go through. Brad says that all of the terrible parts about being a dad is worth it, because in the end he is doing it for his kids. This convinces Dusty to go to the dance, and he and Brad arrive together. There, they discover that Dylan's bully is a girl, and almost get into a fight with her father when Dylan physically retaliates. However, Dusty finally decides to follow Brad's lead on being a father, and instead quells the fight by starting a dance-off. Brad and Sara reconcile, and Dusty decides to stay and be a good "co-dad" to his kids. Later, the whole family is happy; Brad and Sara have a new baby boy named after Griff, and Megan and Dylan have accepted Brad as their stepfather. Dusty has moved in across the street, and he and Brad are now friends. Dusty ends up getting remarried to a woman with a daughter, becoming a stepdad himself. In a bit of irony, Dusty is now in the exact same position that he put Brad in a year ago - at odds with his stepdaughter's incredibly intimidating biological father, Roger (John Cena).