Drunk Parents (2020) Film Review

I rented ‘Drunk Parents’ from Cinema Paradiso. Here is how I got on…

Drunk Parents is listed as a comedy comedy directed by Fred Wolf, best known for being the Head Writer on Saturday Night Live. Wolf has co-written written Drunk Parents with screen writer Peter Gaulke, who is known for Ice Age 2: The Meltdown.

Wolf cast stars including Alec Baldwin (The Boss Baby film franchise), Salma Hayek (The Hitman’s Bodyguard), with a supporting cast featuring Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike XXL), Natalia Cigliuti (90210), Jim Gaffigan (Hotel Transylvania 3) and Ben Platt Pitch Perfect 2).

It starts with Frank (Alec Baldwin) and Nancy Teagarten (Salma Hayek) dropping their only daughter off at an expensive looking college. They return home to their huge British style mansion, and all is not as it seems… They are actually broke and facing the prospect of bankruptcy. Desperate to fund their daughter’s education, they start to empty their house contents out onto the lawn and try to sell it to passing neighbours. During the evening they sit amongst their yard sale and get very drunk. One thing leads to another, and they end up listing their absent neighbours house (which Frank should be looking after while he is away working in the UK) on Craigs List for rent! This snowballs into crisis after crisis and the plot includes a convicted sex offender, theft of furniture, fire and a random Will Ferrell.

The Script/Screenplay

Director and credited co-writer Fred Wolf has history with Saturday Night Live (SNL) and a comedian. So, it is no surprise he is looking to follow previous esteemed SNL alumni such as Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, and Jon Belushi, and break out into the movies.

So, roping in veteran screen writer Peter Gaulke the pair set about creating Drunk Parents. I was optimistic going into this film it has a decent cast and writers with some pedigree. After watching the first few minutes that optimism faded.

What I was watching was a so-called comedy with a script that seems so devoid of actual humour it made me feel very disappointed.

The premise of Drunk Parents is that Frank and Nancy consistently encounter one scrape and mishap after each other, we have mistaken intent, mistaken identity, unintentional theft etc etc, and therein lies the problem with the script. Wolf’s Saturday Night Live heritage is evident thought the screenplay each scrape the couple get into plays out like a SNL skit. Its like watching a series of moments rather than a cohesive story. Everyone on set seem convinced the writing was funny and then desperately tries to convince the audience that it is.

The trouble with this style of writing is that when it is not executed brilliantly the bits in between each ‘comedy set piece’ just drag on.

Look out for Alec Baldwin’s running gag through the film, Baldwin, several times he changes his voice when answering his phone depending on the situation. This is to avoid being caught – hilarious – yes that is sarcasm.

The script also takes us as fools, when character gets locked into a homemade panic room; it is never explained how he gets out, we must just accept it. It also makes an odd choice to glorify kids with guns, in what I can only imagine was funny on paper the Police turn up to an empty house and ask if the house has been robbed ooo funny yet , they do not appear in another scene when two kids use a Taser in the street in broad daylight.

Note to producers If you have to shoehorn Will Ferrell in half way through a movie you need to A: look at your script and B: revisit your casting choices. Ferrell’s presence in Drunk Parents just exposes the flaws in the film and using the same unfunny gag twice in as many minutes, smacks of desperation

Standout Casting

Alec Baldwin as Frank Teagarten,

Alec Baldwin, is best known for roles such as Jack Ryan in Hunt for Red October, and parts in The Aviator and Departed. Apart from doing some voice work for films like The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and Madagascar, Alec hasn’t really ventured into the realm of comedy and it shows. Not only does the script deliver him dud lines to work with, but his natural charisma is also not enough to turn a flat script into a comedic work of art. During the ‘comedy’ set pieces he comes across just looking awkward. In the future, I would much prefer to see Alec Baldwin playing a role such as Danny Ocean (Ocean’s eleven) where he can provide a comedic line or two, but more natural comedy actors can do the heavy lifting as an ensemble.

Salma Hayek as Nancy Teagarten

Salma Hayek’s early career is full of A-list great films like, From Dusk till Dawn and an absolute favourite of mine, Dogma. In Drunk Parents Hayek gets to play alongside Alec Baldwin as his wife and co-conspirator of the schemes to get them out of the predicaments they find themselves in. The film’s script really lets her down. We have zero-character development, the ‘funny’ bits just restrict Hayek to either a shouty rant about the price of a cucumber or attempting comedy by getting stuck in an oversized cat flap entering her own house. The chemistry between husband and wife is also not believable. The movie has the tone of a buddy comedy rather than a husband and wife relationship, it’s a complete waste of talent.

Jim Gaffigan as Carl Mancini

Jim (James) Gaffigan is an American stand-up comedian. As a comic he manages to upstage the two leads in every scene he is in. Showing comic timing and a more animated performance. He is also the only actor that gets a character arc. The downside being a scene detailing how Carl became a registered sex offender is at total odds with the tone of the rest of the Movie, even if it does add an extra layer to Carl’s character.

Sound/Music/Score

The Score:

Drunk Parents does not seem to have a dedicated score available to listen to separately. Music has been composed by Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau. Listen out for both Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek singing Tomorrow (from Annie).

The Sound:

Standard stuff where sound is concerned, no brash high spec Hi-res soundtrack, Just standard DVD Dolby Digital Plus affair. Sounds good enough.

Visual Effects

Nothing revolutionary regards the effects. Nothing stand out, costumes looked ok, and the various locations looked appropriate. Overall nothing to shout about

Video Quality

Standard video quality. Filmed in 1.85 : 1 Aspect Ratio, and presented on DVD standard definition format. No HD or 4K content here. It looked sharp enough upscaled through to 1080p.

Drunk Parents Overall Thoughts

On paper Drunk Parents should be an absolute riot to watch. The plot points and themes are comedy gold, unfortunately Drunk Parents is no Ealing comedy, its not even at ‘The Hangover’ standard of funny, its around the level of the American remake of ‘Death of A funeral’. At best, the jokes don’t land and at worst they are so obvious they are unfunny.

I have said that there is no such thing as a bad film, only bad execution and I that is evident with Drunk Parents. Take any modern comedy and the script is underpinned with the premise of people running into one crazy situation to another. It’s just that with Drunk Parents no one has really thought about where the humour is coming from.

Note to casting directors, Rose Byrne and Mark Wahlberg would have been a better casting fit, and maybe it would have been a different outcome.

The Silver Hedgehog Rating: 1.4 'Avoid'

The Script / Screenplay
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Casting

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Music / Score

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Visual Effects and Costumes

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Video Quality

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Drunk Parents listing as a comedy maybe the only thing funny about this film, that and the rating it’s getting.

Words Garry
Editor JJ
Images The Movie Database

Review Extras

Directed by
Fred Wolf (attached)
Writing Credits (WGA)
Fred Wolf (written by) &
Peter Gaulke (written by)
Cast (in credits order) complete, awaiting verification

Alec Baldwin … Frank Teagarten
Salma Hayek … Nancy Teagarten
Jim Gaffigan … Carl Mancini
Joe Manganiello … Bob Donnelly
Treat Williams … Dan Henderson
Michelle Veintimilla … Rachel Teagarten
Natalia Cigliuti … Betty Donnelly
Colin Quinn … Ryan the Bum #2
Eddie Schweighardt … Tristan Donnelly
Jeremy Shinder … Trey Donnelly
Ben Platt … Jason Johnson
Olivia Luccardi … Jessie
JoJo Kushner … Rose Shope
Sasha Mitchell … Shope
Aasif Mandvi … Nigel
Mark Gessner … Agent Milhouse
Meg Wolf … Agent Barnes
Dan Soder … Randall
Peter Gaulke … Parole Officer
Adam Enright … Gate Attendant
Kid Cudi … Tow Truck Driver (as Scott Mescudi)
Kelly AuCoin … Tyler
Brian Donahue … Wayne
Scott Nicholson … Cop #1
Joseph Mancuso … Cop #2
Izzy Ruiz … Jail Cop
Andy Spade … Steve
Stephen Gevedon … Tom
Aimee Mullins … Heidi Bianchi
Daniel Hayek … Employee (Office Building)
Tim Rose … Bert the Neighbor
Rose Iebba … Female Guard
Al Cerullo … Pilot
Rob Marshall … Pilot Coordinator
Joe Castiglione … Truck Driver (as Joseph Castiglione)
Matthew Porter … Office Employee
David Shumbris … Kidnapper #1
Patrick M. Walsh … Kidnapper #2 (as Patrick Walsh Jr.)
Mick O’Rourke … Kidnapper #3
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank Anello … FBI Agent (uncredited)
Aaron Ayhan … Passenger (uncredited)
Brian Clark … Waiter (uncredited)
Leah M. Clark … Briana (uncredited)
Will Ferrell … Bum (uncredited)
Gibson Frazier … Klaus (uncredited)
Matthew Herington … Passenger (uncredited)
Laura Jordan … Audrey (uncredited)
Elizabeth Lovece … Janice’s Friend (uncredited)
Stephen O’Reilly … Yard Sale Customer (uncredited)
Darly Wayne … Janice’s Friend (uncredited)
Produced by
Robert Ogden Barnum producer
Jason Cloth executive producer
Nadine de Barros executive producer (as Nadine DeBarros)
David T. Friendly executive producer (as David Friendly)
Peter Gaulke executive producer
David Gendron executive producer
Aaron L. Gilbert producer
Ali Jazayeri executive producer
Jamin O’Brien executive producer
Andrew Pollack executive producer (as Andy Pollack)
Sander Shalinsky executive producer
Alan Simpson executive producer
Allan J. Stitt executive producer
Stan Thomas executive producer
Daniel Wagner executive producer

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