Kristen Bell Is In A New Netflix Movie With Seth Rogen, So Good Luck Not LOLing
Over the last few months, Netflix has been quietly slaying the original movie game. The Kissing Booth and Set It Up were major hits for the streaming platform, and now, it looks like they have a new success story on their hands: Like Father, a comedy about a woman moving on after being left at the altar. The Like Father trailer dropped on Monday, and it stars Kristen Bell, Seth Rogen, and Kelsey Grammer, so you know you're about to laugh your way through this entire movie.
Like Father is pretty accurately described as a "reverse Forgetting Sarah Marshall," as Vulture called it. Bell stars as Rachel, a career-focused go-getter who finds herself on a Caribbean cruise with her estranged father (Grammer) after she's left at the altar. "I was left at the altar a few days ago, and my dad, who I haven't seen since I was five, showed up to my wedding unannounced," Rachel tells a friendly cruise-goer (Rogen). "The two of us got incredibly drunk that night, and I must have blacked out because somehow I dragged him onto this cruise that was supposed to be my honeymoon." Rachel's speech pretty much sums up the entire premise of the movie, but this is Kristen Bell and Seth Rogen we're talking about, so don't expect a typical family/romantic comedy.
While aboard the cruise ship, Rachel reckons with her father's long absence and her own messed up ideas about relationships. Rachel repeatedly insists that she's fine, but everyone around her — even the strangers she meets on the cruise — can tell that she isn't. "Why are you here? Why now?" she asks her dad in the trailer. Clearly, Rachel's relationship with her dad isn't great, but it looks like a Caribbean cruise is about to change all that. Who knew that's all it takes to repair years of tension?
Based on the trailer, Rachel's relationship with her dad will form the backbone of Like Father, but her relationship with the other cruise guests will add some much-needed humor. Most notably, Rachel gets into a relationship with Rogen's character — it's easy to be intimate when you've already laid out your life, right?
Towards the end of the trailer, Grammer runs down the narrow cruise ship hallway (I wonder if they filmed this on a ship or just a very accurate set) looking for his daughter. After hearing her dad's yells, a partially-clothed Rachel opens the door — and reveals a shirtless Seth Rogen. As her father stands there, the two awkwardly part ways. "Thank you," says Rachel, pretending like she was just dropping by. "Yeah, great to — good hanging," replies Rogen's character even more awkwardly. I guess that no matter how old you get (or how estranged you are with your dad), being interrupted by a parent is still the world's most awful experience.
Seth Rogen isn't the only Rogen who worked on Like Father: His wife Lauren Miller Rogen wrote and directed the movie, so you know it's going to be hilarious. The couple has collaborated on plenty of projects, including Sausage Party, Superbad, and 50/50, but this is the first time that Miller Rogen will be directing her husband, and it seems like she did an amazing job.
As if the combination of the Rogens, Bell, and Grammer weren't good enough, Like Father also features a cameo from one of my favorite character actors, Paul Downs. In the movie, Downs puts his Broad City trainer behind him and takes on the role of a cruise-goer who loves to give advice because he's "been a therapist now for four months." I pretty much snorted when he said this in the trailer, so I can't wait to see what other zingers Downs gets to deliver in the new movie.
Like Father hits Netflix on August 3. And yes, I've already started counting down the days.
