I have just recently watched the trailer for the new Film "Mom And Dad" starring Nicholas Cage. It was not what I was expecting at all. The title of the film is deceiving. You are not sure what exactly the film is about. My only fear thus far for this film, is parents will see this film without knowing what the film is about, and go to see it just by the title of the film. I have read about parents doing this in the past. My parents do that, they just see a movie title and watch it based on the title of the film.
'Mom and Dad' thoughts and concerns
Please watch the film trailer before reading this next section.
The trailer starts out with your classic family issues; Dad busy working, older sister upset with parents and school, and pretty much life in general. The mother doesn't want to deal with her angsty daughter, and the little brother gets all the attention. Cage's character says the line "take my advice, don't ever have kids." which struck out to me as odd. I am sure that some parents have said that, but not to their own children. Right away I was confused and taken away by this family. The daughter wants to see a movie with a boy, but can't because her grandparents are coming over, and she hates hearing stories about Vietnam, which also struck me as rather odd, but I couldn't put my finger on why.
So I continued watching the trailer.
It suddenly changes from happy sounding music to not so happy, right after the boy throws the ball at Cage's head. Now we are in a horror film. The dark sounding music and multiple cuts of the same shot change the mood to a dark and uneasy feeling. Parents are upset and coming after their kids, but we don't know why.
The wording in the trailer is rather odd too; "They brought you into this world," "Now," "They will take you out." For some reason, this made me hooked on the film, and I wanted to keep watching more. What was going to happen to these kids? Why were the parents coming after them? Was this film going to teach children to appreciate their parents more?
Next, the music switches to a rock and roll vibe. It's not just a thriller movie, its a comedy too. The news reports parents murdering their children. The older sister steps in to protect her little brother from their parents. Then there are multiple shots of crowds of people running and screaming and climbing. Just absolute chaos. We still don't know why the parents are doing this, but it makes me intrigued and I want to know why. Throughout the trailer, there are quotes from other sources stating it to be a "Dysfunctional comedy and zany insanity" or my favorite "Like a twisted remake of "Home Alone" on bath salts."
Cage's craziness leaks everywhere
This is where we can see the crazy Cage come to life again.
There are a ton of funny videos online of Nicholas Cage's hilarious acting styles. Now, this film is a combination of them all. Cage is absolutely wrecking everything with a sledgehammer and oppositely singing a happy children's song, the "Hokey Pokey," as he is breaking the house down. This might be one of the perfect roles for him, as well as Selma Blair, a role I have not seen her play at all. The trailer continues showing shots of the parents destroying the house to get to the kids in a comedic way. Then the doorbell rings and the parents realize that their parents were coming for a visit.
From crazy amounts of screaming, Cage attacking and getting hurt, it looks like this will be a hilarious film, but not for all.
Like, I said in the beginning, my fear is that people could take this film the wrong way. The general audience aimed at is young adults and teenagers. However, I can see some parents enjoying this film as well. Its a hilarious comedy about parents trying to kill their children, so there will be plenty of parenting jokes in the chaos to lighten the mood for parents watching. Then there is the fear that children who watch this will gather the wrong ideas about the film and try to harm their parents or run away from them. The film is rated R and with good reason, so parents please do your homework on this film.
Now, if you noticed when the title of the film appears, "Mom and Dad", reading it from top to bottom, the left side spells out MAD.
Which I think is clever and fun. The director and writer of the film is Brian Taylor, who has also directed the "Crank" films. This film will come out January 19, 2018, perfect to watch with your family after the holidays.
