Comedians are at their best when we don’t have to search for the punch line. Bill Burr’s directorial debut, “Old Dads,” forces the audience to do some searching, leaving viewers to wonder if they’re watching comedy or satire. Some may think they found themselves at open-mic night at the comedy club.
Burr’s character, Jack Kelly, opens the movie singing praises of family and friendship, teasing a film about parenthood. But it’s not long before he purposefully trips his friend’s son while the boy is running, all the while slinging F-bombs. Burr offers the audience such glimpses into his critiques of helicopter parents and overly sensitive adults, but he never redeems the characters or explains their imperfections in a way to leave the audience satisfied that such flawed characters have something to teach us.
After Kelly’s monologue and scenes introducing the main players, the film pivots to the small business run by Kelly and his friends, Mike Richards (played by Bokeem Woodbine) and Connor Brody (Bobby Cannavale). This sets up a commentary on surveillance culture and political correctness in the workplace.
Here is where Burr begins to blur the lines between comedy and political satire. If you don’t agree with Burr’s politics or don’t think he goes far enough, viewers will have to decide what parts are meant to be funny or if Burr can actually deliver a knockout blow to mock woke sensibilities.
Conservative and liberal audiences may agree with Burr’s general criticisms of our hyper-sensitive culture, but members of
