In the discomfiting dysfunctional comedy, "I Love My Dad," Chuck (Patton Oswalt), a compulsive liar, is estranged from his son Franklin (writer/director James Morosini, who based the film on his real life) for being a bad dad. Chuck breaks promises. He has lame excuses. He disappoints, repeatedly. Franklin decides to cut him out of his life. When Chuck is blocked by Franklin, it prompts him to try to reconnect with his son — who is fragile having attempted suicide — by creating a fake online identity. Pretending to be Becca (Claudia Sulewski), a young woman who claims to have romantic interests in Franklin, Chuck is able to learn about his son and say things to Franklin he has been unable to express otherwise.
It's a foolish, harebrained scheme, right out of "Cyrano" and "Who You Think I Am" — and it is bound to backfire. Except it might just bring estranged father and son closer together (as long as Franklin never learns the truth). And "I Love My Dad" is hilarious, heartfelt, or hateful, depending on one's tolerance for cringe-comedy.
