Summary
This is okay — it’s nothing to shout about but it will encourage the odd smile and warm your heart up a little.
This review of Netflix’s Dad Wanted contains no spoilers. The family film was released on the streaming service on September 11, 2020.
Dad Wanted proposes the idea that a young woman named Blanca is destined to be a great BMX rider. However, there’s a sizeable hole that sits between her dreams and her mother — the loss of the father. The Netflix Mexican film presents a rebellious child and a family that has not come to terms with the loss of the father who died in an accident, surfacing a mother that is afraid to let her daughter put herself in danger. On the other side, you have a failing, almost alcoholic actor who has lost a daughter himself — it’s opposite worlds that the film is trying to magnetize into a story.
The whole purpose of Dad Wanted is that it’s meant to be heartfelt. The family film drives home the grief that surrounds a family like this and the impact it can have on people who are talented. The story pits the failed actor and Blanca together — a self-made father/daughter relationship born from common interests.
Dad Wanted spends too long laboring the family drama — it throws scenario after scenario of the mother and daughter clashing on the same objective because the film is attempting to reach an end goal. This deflates the experience, however, it can be slightly forgiven for its emotional core that keeps the viewer at least interested.
The performances are satisfactory, bearing a few slightly cheesy moments — Dad Wanted wants to give those feel-good and fleeting moments every time Blanca finds a slither of hope. The underlying plot point is the mother slowly coming to terms with the talents offered by her daughter. Together that makes for sound on-screen chemistry.
This is okay — it’s nothing to shout about but it will encourage the odd smile and warm your heart up a little.
