Father of Invention

Name: Father of Invention
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: October 14, 2011
Duration: 93 min
Rating: 36

2011

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Generally unfavorable reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 22 Ratings

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2.3

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2.3	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 22 Ratings

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Father Of Invention

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Movie Details & Credits

Anchor Bay Entertainment | Release Date: October 14, 2011 | PG-13

Summary: Robert Axle is an arrogant infomercial mogul whose empire collapses after one of his products maims thousands of consumers. After 8 years in prison, he tries to rebuild his fortune, but must first reconnect with his estranged daughter, her man-hating roommate, his boneheaded new employer, the ex-wife who squandered his fortune, and theRobert Axle is an arrogant infomercial mogul whose empire collapses after one of his products maims thousands of consumers. After 8 years in prison, he tries to rebuild his fortune, but must first reconnect with his estranged daughter, her man-hating roommate, his boneheaded new employer, the ex-wife who squandered his fortune, and the ruthless executive who took over his company. Can a man who’s lost everything devise a way to get back on top? (Anchor Bay Entertainment)… Expand

Director: Trent Cooper

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 93 min

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Critic Reviews

Lou Lumenick

Oct 14, 2011

Make no mistake, Father of Invention is the hilarious Spacey's show all the way. Read full review

Ronnie Scheib

Oct 12, 2011

Colorless exposition and a lack of imagination or wit stall Father of Invention at the starting gate. Read full review

Nick Pinkerton

Oct 12, 2011

The rather unappealing character of Axel is indulged with every opportunity for redemption, as Spacey is indulged with every opportunity to showboat. Read full review

Kirk Honeycutt

Oct 12, 2011

Comedies don't get much more unfunny than Father of Invention, a lame and somewhat preachy comic take on a father trying to get back into his daughter's good graces. Read full review

Eric Hynes

Oct 18, 2011

Spacey is ever the pro, shilling Axle's absurd redemption and countenancing the likes of Johnny Knoxville and John Stamos as if a third Oscar were in the offing. Yet his female costars fare worse, forming an unfortunate collection of dismal, man-dependent stereotypes, from Belle's perma-pouting idealist to Heather Graham's breast-obsessed, sapphic-by-choice ballbuster. Read full review

Nick Schager

Oct 12, 2011

There's no spark or humor to the film's situations, just the sense of capable actors trying to make the best of a hopeless situation. Read full review

Stephen Holden

Oct 13, 2011

The screenplay, by Mr. Cooper and Jonathan D. Krane, is so sketchy that it feels like a hastily executed first draft. Read full review

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User Reviews

DawdlingPoet

Nov 28, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. In the end, I felt this movie was rather spoilt by its over sentimentality with the speech given by Robert Axle at the end of the movie, when a plot twist is revealed, making me want to wince from the cheesiness. I thought the back story was interesting and I feel that it had the potential to be a better movie, I just felt that Robert as a character wasn't properly 'explored' somehow - he does come off as quite a jaded and cautious person, which isn't too surprising and if your familiar with Kevin Spacey (who portrays Robert), then this perhaps isn't too much of a surprise either as I think he often comes across like that. Watching it, it was alright and watchable but there wasn't anything much about it that really 'grabbed' me as such, its alright but nothing to write home about as it were, so its certainly not a film worth looking forward to watching. The most interesting part is probably the relationship between Robert and his daughter (who declares she's a lesbian) and her friends, who take to him differently. There are one or two tense, confrontational moments during the start of the movie but still, overall I wouldn't classify it as a particularly dramatic movie. The story sounds curious enough, poking fun at those who are rather gullible in purchasing home shopping TV products with a few mentions about the audience or market that Robert marketed his inventions or more fabrications as he called them, although more emphasis is on his re-integration with the family than on his business. People have questioned the validity of being sent to jail for an invention leading to multiple injuries as apparently that would usually only result in fines or other action and not full criminal liability (being a civil and not a criminal issue in the US?), which I can't really comment on but again this part of the story is more a dark take on peoples gullibility I suppose, its more symbolic than perhaps 100% accurate and in a way we see that Robert himself is perhaps gullible in believing his daughter will see past the years of abandonment, relying on her compassion to let him back in to his life. The way they interact is quite interesting and there is some good (ascerbic) dialogue.

I thought it was an interesting movie, or potentially quite interesting, that overall I suppose came across just a *little* too bland and a bit bleaker (for the most part) than I'd perhaps imagined and I honestly couldn't help but shake my head at the ending, which in a sense didn't fit with the rest of the movie - I can't help but wonder if the writers felt they had to write the ending as a way to make up for the rest of the film but to me it doesn't work. It finished with some questions still left in my head (not in a good way) and I felt the script had potential, there is some decent dialogue but again overall it just came a bit short of the mark for me. I thought the movie was alright, its watchable, just it could be seen as a bit dull - there's no slapstick comedy or real laugh out loud 'genius' moments, its more, I suppose, a sit back and think about it kind of a movie, if that makes sense?. The performances are quite emotionally charged between Robert and his daughter, with Kevin Spacey giving a decent enough performance playing a rather dishevelled down and out ex-con trying to make amends much to peoples disappointment somehow and other people worth noting in the cast including Heather Graham, Johnny Knoxville (from the Jackass TV show and spin off movies) and a brief appearance by John Stamos, who has more recently appeared in Glee.

I felt that overall there was something fairly entertaining or interesting about the movie, its not dire, just not as good as it perhaps could have been, it kind of muddles along a bit, so im going for a middle of the road 3 star rating. If you don't expect too much in the way of direct comedy but are intrigued in the aspect of the redeeming father story, then you may enjoy this movie, or should find it pleasant enough, I'd have thought, otherwise its no great shakes.… Expand

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xolve

Mar 15, 2016

To make great drama, you need it to be ultimately believable: to do great comedy, you have to make it laugh-out-loud funny, enough that the unbelievable moments don't matter. Like many films, this opts for a half-in, half-out approach that neither approaches believability, nor humour.
TheTo make great drama, you need it to be ultimately believable: to do great comedy, you have to make it laugh-out-loud funny, enough that the unbelievable moments don't matter. Like many films, this opts for a half-in, half-out approach that neither approaches believability, nor humour.
The 2-dimensional 'angry lesbian' character was kind of amazingly offensive, even to someone as opposed to political correctness as myself, but unfortunately not offensive in an amusing way. Heather Graham can do better.
And Kevin Spacey doesn't have that over-the-top quality that really lends itself to comedy. He's too restrained, forceful, unendearing.
You can tell it's trying to go for that quaint, half-comedy thing that The Darjeeling Limited had, but it falls flat. I think this is largely down to Spacey's shtick, which just isn't quaint. And neither is the script...
Have to admit though.. the emotional kick at the end got to me - as unbelievable as it was, it got to me. That's the magic of cinema, I guess.… Expand

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