Suddenly Dad

Samuel (Omar Sy) enjoys his life as a single man on the Côte d`Azur to the fullest. He drives tourists around on their yachts and has fun with beautiful women at parties in the evenings. The perfect life without obligations. But that comes to an end from one day to the next when Kristin (Clémence Poésy), an affair from the previous year, suddenly lays a child in his arms who is supposedly his daughter. Before Samuel realizes what is happening, Kristin has disappeared. The search for her leads the bon vivant to London, where he gets stuck for the next few years. As a stuntman, he is able to provide a comfortable life for himself and Gloria (Gloria Colston), and he uses every second to lovingly care for the girl. For eight years, the two lead a near-perfect life - until Kristin suddenly reappears.

With Suddenly Dad, director Hugo Gélin delivers a truly enchanting father-daughter story that allows viewers to experience a wide range of emotions. The whole thing starts as a light comedy in the style of movies like 3 Men and 1 Baby: A charming child-head is forced to take responsibility for the first time in a life. And of course this causes all kinds of chaos when changing a diaper for the first time or giving the first bottle. But this part is over relatively quickly and eight years later we observe a humorous father-daughter relationship full of joie de vivre and lightness. With the appearance of Kristin, however, this is displaced, as the film now turns into more of a drama in the style of the classic Kramer vs. Kramer. But then the story takes another turn.

About this, of course, nothing should be revealed here. Only so much: there will probably flow some tears in the last minutes. Some may find the finale a bit too thick. But in principle Gélin has done everything right: He has worked towards it, but can still surprise the audience. In doing so, he refrains from overly cheesy scenes and instead lets the whole thing be commented on from off-screen. The interplay of the images that are shown and what you get to hear is truly heartbreaking - but has a certain beauty and a positive note in all its sadness. And that really is a bit of a feat.

The film is far from perfect. Especially in the beginning, some of the gags seem arguably like over-the-top slapstick, and too often it feels like parts of the story are borrowed from other movies. And despite some appropriate criticisms, Suddenly Dad really works brilliantly. That's as much thanks to the direction as it is to the wonderful leading duo of Omar Sy and Gloria Colston. The Pretty Best Friends star is once again a tremendous likable character whose charm is simply impossible to resist. And yet he is almost outplayed by his equally charming daughter. There is an almost perfect chemistry between the two, which makes the audience grow fond of them very quickly. One is happy for little Gloria that she has such a loving dad and for Samuel that she gives his life a real meaning. It's this chemistry that consoles over the weaknesses of the production and makes the final third in particular so stirring and emotional.

If you liked Omar Sy in Pretty Best Friends, you'll love him here, too. The role of the loving, but also still somewhat childish Samuel himself seems to be written right on his body. But also, who generally likes a balanced mixture of comedy and drama and would like to sob unrestrainedly in the cinema, should not miss this beautiful, entertaining film. Absolutely worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp