There are shades of Parasite—and a big twist—in this gory Elijah Wood comedy
Film Features Watch This
Watch This offers movie recommendations inspired by new releases, premieres, current events, or occasionally just our own inscrutable whims. This week: We’re highlighting some of the best movies of 2020 so far that we didn’t review.
Come To Daddy (2020)
Maybe it’s unfair to compare the relatively modest B-movie Come To Daddy with last year’s critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning, international smash hit Parasite. But the two films do have some commonalities. Both are genre-defying, mixing moody noir with elements of social satire and over-the-top pulp. Both are about people whose comfortable lives are the result of someone else’s toil. And both feature wicked mid-picture plot twists that are hard to talk about without spoiling the story.
Maybe it’s that big, unmentionable switcheroo that has kept Come To Daddy under the cinephile radar, ever since it was released in the U.S. in early February (well before the pandemic shut the entertainment business down). The film was reasonably well-reviewed, but it didn’t generate a lot of buzz on social media back then or now, even though it’s exactly the kind of blackly comic, sicko crime picture that a certain subset of movie buff loves—a genre sleeper in the same general category as Red Rock West or Blood Simple. And while it’s not as capital-G great as those two cult classics, it is awfully good.
Come to Come To Daddy first and foremost for Elijah Wood, who’s exactly the right level of “nebbishy” as the film’s protagonist, Norval Greenwood, a California rich kid with esoteric interests. The story is initially about Norval reuniting with the father who skipped out on him and his mom when he was just a pre-schooler. Once Norval arrives at the remote Oregon cabin where his old man lives, the movie becomes more about how ill-prepared this coddled Beverly Hills hipster is for the rough, violent dudes in his pop’s social circle. Who better than Frodo himself to play such a well-meaning, wide-eyed naif?
Because of the aforementioned twist—which involves Norval finding out something surprising about what his dad’s been doing for the past 30 years, and how it’s been benefiting our hero from a distance—Come To Daddy is really two movies. Director Ant Timpson and screenwriter Toby Harvard (who previously worked together, with Wood, on the gleefully gross art-comedy The Greasy Strangler) treat the first half of the film as a claustrophobic character study, about two very different men spending a few increasingly tense days together in the middle of nowhere. In the second half, the pace quickens considerably, as more characters enter the fray… and it becomes a bloody, bloody fray.
It’s possible that audiences who enjoy one of Come To Daddy’s halves may dislike the other. Yet even at its most shocking—and, be warned, its most viscerally disgusting—the movie always speaks to life in this particular moment, when questions about social inequality and class division are being discussed more openly. To be clear, this isn’t an overtly political film. It’s more of a bone-dry comedy that shifts gears suddenly and becomes a cheap-thrill generator. But Timpson, Harvard, and Wood do have a strong sense of the connection between their pieces, from the amoral psychopaths who make money out of mayhem to their soft offspring who live all-too-easily thanks to what the bad guys do.
Availability: Come To Daddy is available to stream on Amazon. It can also be rented or purchased from Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Microsoft, Fandango, Redbox, Flix Fling, DirectTV, and VUDU.
46 Comments
Come to Daddy has been one of my favorite recent finds. Elijah Wood is great, and the film bounces from humor to violence to menace to dread to excitement very well. I definitely recommend folks go into it without spoilers.
he seems to enjoy playing weirdos, like in “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore”
“I Don’t Feel at Home” was such a pleasant surprise for me. I really liked it. I feel it deserves some more credit/attention.
I really liked I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore and actually think I enjoyed Come to Daddy less as a result. They aren’t really going for the same thing, I think, but there are enough similar elements that I couldn’t help but compare the two. Come to Daddy’s back half felt a little all over the place.Soundtrack Spoiler for Come to Daddy Ahead:I will say I admired their subtlety with one element of the soundtrack, the whole movie you are waiting for Aphex Twin’s infamously horrifying “Come to Daddy” to start blasting, and it never comes BUT towards the end of the movie they play the haunting but sparse and beautiful Aphex Twin track “Avril 14th” instead.
Watched this based solely on the one trailer I saw in front of Color Out Of Space at Alamo Drafthouse and was not disappointed.
I ended up seeing the trailer a few times before a bunch of art house Alamo movies as well, and yeah, it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but that’s what made it so much better. Got into the Alamo movie pass beta late so I could see stuff like this all the time, and never got to actually use it.
My Alamo isn’t quite close enough to home to justify the movie pass, but there are certain movies I go out of my way to see there for the experience. I haven’t tried out their Alamo On Demand yet, but I might this weekend for Bill & Ted.
Elijah Wood’s career has been strange since LOTR. And come to think of it, most of the stars of LOTR seem to have had low-key follow-ups. Obviously people like Ian McKellen went right on doing what they were doing, but considering how big those movies were, they didn’t seem to mint any stars.
Well, the LotR films are pretty much ensemble films by definition; anyone who really stood out would have thrown a monkey wrench into the real star of the trilogy, which was its epic scale. Andy Serkis is probably the closest thing to a breakout (in terms of how famous he was after, relative to before), but since his greatest talent lies in motion capture and voices, rather than “regular” acting, it didn’t quite work out as well as it might have.Basically, the movies cast a bunch of character actors to play very distinctly-defined characters; there’s no Movie Stars™ in LotR.
Yeah, but you have to admit that Viggo Mortensen probably could have leveraged his LOTR credit into a lot of action franchises and things. He’s had a decent career, but not quite what I expected from Aragorn.I’m not positive, but I’d say Sean Bean may have leveraged it better, though Mortensen’s done some solid work, too, just not what I expected back in the LoTR days.
Viggo could have, but from what I’ve seen from him over the years, he doesn’t seem interested in being a movie star.
I would say Viggo’s doing the best out of all of them (unless we’re counting Cate Blanchett).He has been pretty choosy since LOTR. It doesn’t mean he’s doing badly. He just doesn’t have to make crap like Daylight anymore. He was recently nominated for his third Best Actor Oscar since LOTR for Green Book (the other two being Captain Fantastic and Eastern Promises). He’s still a guy that can headline a major release.Meanwhile Sean Bean was last seen in season 1 of GOT (I know that’s not true, it’s an exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis).
I agree with you on the main point, but disagree with you on the details. I think that Sean Bean is about at the same level as before. What was his last big role? GoT? That was a decade ago. IMDB indicates that most of his, admittedly very steady, work is British TV series and voice work, which makes tons of sense if he’s made his money and just wants to work for short stints around a more or less personal holiday.Viggo’s pretty dormant these days, but there’s no doubt that LOTR greatly elevated his career from before pretty significantly, with movies like A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, and The Road. He’s obviously motivated more than project by paycheck these days, and his page indicates that he’s staying busy with lower profile flicks. My understanding is that he just wants to kick it in South America riding horses. I think I read that when the RotK was winning Oscars, he was watching it in his ranch neighbor’s kitchen on a black and white TV in Chile or Argentina, and was “Oh, that’s cool. Well, on to choring.”
“Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. is a Danish-American actor, author, musician, photographer, poet, and painter.” Usually when you see actors described like this in all their bios they don’t want the bullshit and time that comes along with heading up an action franchise. I am sure he had a slew of “Aragon” like roles come across his
I’d argue that it provided enough stability for them to focus on jobs that they enjoy or find creatively satisfying rather than set them up as a tent pole leads.
Yes, I’m sure Elijah is sitting on bags of hobbit money, and I definitely think that, say, Viggo Mortensen seems to have absolutely no interest in a Hollywood career. But Orlando Bloom? Sean Bean, who is certainly a successful actor, seems curiously absent from major roles, give or take the occasional beheading. Sean Astin rocketed straight back to obscurity. It’s just a little weird.
I blame Orlando Bloom’s relative-obscurity on everyone getting sick of the Pirates movies. (I did like him in Carnival Row, though, critical reviews be damned).
Sean Bean is playing it just right. Being a working character actor lasts for ever. You seldom get a behind-the-scenes spotlight put on you. You can show up, chew the scenery for a couple of days, then be off for a while as the star does their thing, then show up again for a few more days. If the movie tanks, you remain relatively unscathed. You still draw a decent cheque. No one chases you around. Most people try to place your face from afar. That’s where I’d be aiming for if I were an actor.
Viggo tried his hands at being a Hollywood star to mixed success but he seems happy on his ranchOrlando Bloom was another slightly successful series of films if I recall, something about pirates and curses or some shitSean Bean went back to being the bad guy and a character actor. From what I understand, after LOTR Sean Astin decided to focus on his family more. He pops up here and there and does a good deal of voice over work. I think his kids are all approaching college age now so we may start seeing more of him.
Wasn’t like he starred in a massive film and was the title character before that or had a lengthy child acting career…If anything it kind of reflects the fact that male child actors who stay relatively small and cherubic generally don’t end up leading men.
He appeared in ‘24′ and, perhaps more memorably, ‘Stranger Things’. Plus a TON of voice work. He’s doing fine.
I get the same vibe from Daniel Radcliffe, doesn’t need the money, just gets to take the roles he’s interested in.
To be fair, he was also a child star and one of the few ones who actually ended up being talented enough as an adult to continue acting. I think he was grateful for something as epic as Lord of the Rings and sort of used that to be able to choose his own adventure going forward. He also seems like a pretty grounded human so he might have sought more challenging or interesting roles over the fame route. Just a guess.
Wood has a very deliberately weird career, though. He absolutely LOVES this style of movie, and is very enthusiastic about supporting them.
I admire Elijah Wood and his career and life decisions. I loved a number of his movies/performances growing up and he was one of the only kid actors who I actually liked when I was a kid. Then he got the LOTR movies and escaped the child-actor meat grinder and got that $$$. He’s a big horror movie and video game nerd, and has used his money and influence to start a production company that has produced a number of indie horror flicks and a video game. He’s done voice over for movies, cartoons (Over the Garden Wall was amazing) and video games, starred in an offbeat TV show (Wilfred), started his own record label, and toured the world DJ-ing, all while still leading his on-screen talents to a number of the movies he’s produced and some other quirky projects. Dude is living the dream, and after years of admiring him I was delighted that from his appearing on the Animal Talking show he seems to be just as friendly and funny as I hoped he was.
I saw an interview with him once where jokingly said he doesn’t get as much work anymore because Daniel Radcliffe steals it all from him.
That’s funny, as Radcliffe is one of the other people I think is awesome for getting out of child-acting/a major franchise and just making weird and interesting decisions in what work they do afterwards. Swiss Army Man was freakin’ amazing, and I have the bonkers-looking Guns Akimbo in my queue. I’ve also heard good things about his show Miracle Workers.
Yeah Miracle Workers is fun. I also have Guns Akimbo in my queue but have not watched it yet. My wife wants to hold off on Bill and Ted until Saturday so maybe I will give it a roll tonight
Sometimes I think ‘stars’ must be a little bit envious of ‘actors’.
But weren’t they all doing weirdish things before too? Then again I’m only talking about Martin Freeman and Elijah Wood in particular. I guess Mortissen is doing the same stuff he’s always done but in other genres. It seems they are all content with being indie actors though.
Wood maybe, as he grew up.Martin Freeman tried to break into Hollywood a couple time to limited success but now he has a sweet gig as a MCU side character that will pay in work, cameos and convention circuit money for the rest of his life(On top of his Sherlock convention creds too)
I just finished Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and it was completely bonkers and absolutely wonderful.
Well I think much like Daniel Radclife and most of the cast of the Harry Potter movies, being involved in something like that, and the money you made from it, ESPECIALLY if they got in on the back end, allows these actors to kind of do whatever they like. It’s no longer about being “famous” or being the “popular” actor they can pick and chose to do whatever they like. And Elijah like Daniel were both child actors via different paths. I mean hell did you see Swiss Army Man? I don’t think ANY actor trying to make a name for themselves would have taken the role that Radclife did, but he was great in it.
From what I understand, the primary actors for the LOTR movies all had pretty good contracts RE royalties and such. Especially around merchandising. It was sorta of a perfect storm because New Line had merchandise rights specifically for the movies and characters but not generic rights for the work itself, so anything they licensed had to be the likeness of people actual in the movie. Its died down 20 years later but there was about a decade where LOTR merchandise was everywhere and anytime you saw Elijah Wood’s face on a pez dispenser or t-shirt, he was probably getting a dime.Making those movies meant that most of those actors never had to work again if they did not want to. Especially if they were cool with the later day con circuit to make some cash every summer. So it seems like they mostly pick roles and parts that interest them
Eternal Sunshine, Sin City, Everything is Illuminated, Hobbit, Wilfred, Bobby, Dont feel at Home in this World Anymore, Maniac, Last Witch Hunter, lead voice in Happy Feet, 9 & Over the Garden Wall. Produced Mandy, A Girl Walks alone at Night, Daniel isn’t Real, Color out of Space. Low key killing it.
See, this is a film that I’d love to see a theater. This is the kind of film that needs to spearhead a drive-in revival.I’m not expecting “Green Room” or anything, but it looks sorta like that style of intimate nasty pulp, maybe mixed with that horrible Jason Momoa vehicle from a couple years ago, and I really like Elijah Wood, so I’d totally buy tickets right now.
In short — fuck you, virus. Fuck you for fucking up my leisure time.
It is a delightful film. It absolutely is perfect for the drive-in. My local drive-in stays open all night on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Two of the best theater-going experiences of my life were seeing The Descent at 4 a.m., and then Grindhouse at 3 a.m. the following year, at the drive-in. This movie should be viewed like that.
I just dropped in to say this, but I’m only here in the first place because the virus is also fucking up my leisure time.
Honestly – you had me at “Elijah Wood”.
Anyone who likes dark comedy-ish movies with a great mid-film twist should also check out Blue Ruin where possible.
Blue Ruin’s main twist for me (this is not an actual spoiler) is how The A.V. Club reviewed it as ‘regular Joe takes up vigilantism, gets in way over his head, chaos and violence ensues’ or thereabouts, and the movie turned out to be very different from that. It didn’t help that I attributed the opening narration of the trailer not only to the wrong person, but the wrong gender. That whole “I apologize for the mystery .. but it’s important to keep you safe, etc.” line belongs to a female police officer, not to the dishevelled protagonist male it’s showing while her line is played. Blue Ruin is a great movie, and it’s nothing at all like how it was inadvertently marketed nn my head to me specifically.
What would be your capsule plot explanation, if you find that logline to be misleading?
A gritty revenge tale between two families, set in the South?
I think yours describes the second half the AVC’s describes the first half
I was one of the ones who enjoyed the first part of the film more than the latter, but I also thought no one else did.
I dunno, more Stephen McHattie please, I guess?
Eh, it’s alright. I am a big fan of Wood and McHattie in general, but this one never really rose to the heights of “must rewatch” for me.Though I came to it just after seeing Why Don’t You Just Die!, which set the bar pretty high in that respect (and which I’d strongly recommend).
Come To Daddy: a biopic of Ham-Hands Bill