The lengths a teenager will go to... (My Father The Hero (DVD))

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	My Father The Hero (DVD)
Date:	06/11/08 (192 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gerard Depardieu, not unfunny

Disadvantages: Silly and fluffy

Andre, a divorced man, decides to take his teenage daughter, Nicole, on holiday to the Bahamas. Amazed at how much she has grown up since he last saw her, he finds himself having to fight suitors away. Nicole, wanting to impress one such suitor in particular, tells everyone that Andre is her lover, not her father. Unaware, Andre wonders why everyone is behaving so oddly towards him and is forced to take a good hard look at his own life. Will Nicole be able to persuade the man of her dreams to go out with her? And will their father/daughter relationship be damaged long-term?

I have a great deal of respect for Gerard Depardieu as an actor - he does great character roles and I particularly love him in Jean de Florette. As Andre, he is not exactly given a great deal to work with, but I think he makes the best of it. I think I prefer him in roles in which he speaks his native French, but his English is more than good enough for roles in English language films. And although he is rather wasted in this role, he does have great comic timing and definitely provides most of the laughs. There is something very endearing about him and I really enjoyed his relationship with his daughter - their on-screen chemisty is great. To be honest, without him in the lead role, I think this film would have been a complete waste of time.

A very young Katherine Heigl plays Nicole - it took me a while to recognise her. She looks incredibly stunning - all long blonde hair and never-ending legs - while looking, thank goodness, very natural - she is only fourteen in the film. Nicole is what my mother would call 'a right little madam' - despite her youth, she knows only too well how to play men and her lack of respect for her father is quite frightening. Despite this, I couldn't help but like her - Heigl plays it with just the right combination of charm, innocence and cheek.

The story is, to put it mildly, very silly, very slushy and not at all believable, but to be honest, I could tell this before I started watching and so it didn't really ruin the film for me - in any case, I think I am far from being the target audience. It is the humour that carries the film though - it isn't hysterically funny, more a gentle humour that grows on you. This is thanks mainly to Depardieu's comic abilities - his facial expressions speak volumes - and the fact that he is so big and bulky compared to his slight, willowy daughter is funny in itself. All in all, it is a very light-hearted film that is perfect for when you want something that doesn't stretch the brain too much.

I think this film will most appeal to girls in their early teens, simply because Nicole is going through puberty and experiencing her first encounters with boys. However, it is also relevant to families because of the way it looks at the father/daughter relationship and how girls want their freedom while fathers want to keep them as safe and protected as possible. It also shows that grown-ups aren't always right and certainly don't always make the right decisions. And despite Nicole's initial lack of respect for her father, it is generally a harmless film - there is nothing in the way of sex scenes, bad language or violence, which seems very rare these days.

There is little that is outstanding about this film, but there is little to dislike either, and although I am a childless woman in her late thirties, I found the film a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours. I doubt very much I will go out of my way to watch it again though, although I might look out for the French film also starring Gerard Depardieu, on which this film is based (Disney paid for the rights to re-make it in English). I wouldn't recommend purchasing a copy, unless you know or are a teenage girl with father/daughter problems. Recommended.

The DVD is available from play.com for £3.99.

Classification: PG

Running time: 90 minutes

Summary: A harmless bit of fluff....