My Father the Hero

This review comes with a warning: My Father the Hero is the first comedy I've seen since Car 54, Where Are You? - an experience that's undoubtedly clouded my judgment. My Father the Hero is really just a mediocre, recycled, French farce, but after Car 54, anything looks like a comic masterpiece. Even a Jerry Lewis movie.

A very chunky Gerard Depardieu plays a father who's facing more than just a weight problem. He's been divorced from his American wife {Lauren Hutton, who appears in an inexplicable cameo) and living in Paris for the past five years, which means he's racked up quite an absentee dad record with his 14-year-old daughter(Katherine Heigl), who's been stuck in New York with mommy, pining for her father's attention. Depardieu realizes he has some major lost time to make up for and tries to rectify the situation by taking her on a vacation to Nassau.

The trip is far from a relaxing turn on the beach, however. Heigl discovers that dad is seriously thinking about marrying his Parisian girlfriend (Emma Thompson, in another inexplicable cameo) and becomes mad at him. A lot of other people are, too, because in an attempt to appear more mature, Heigl has convinced everybody that she's really Depardieu's underage mistress, not his daughter. Naturally, it takes him most of the movie to figure out what's going on. (By the way, what is the French term for "dim bulb"?)

My Father the Hero is a minor (no pun intended), contrived comedy that plays like a lost episode of The Love Boat. In fact, Van Johnson should probably be playing the lead in this sucker — Depardieu is largely wasted in a role that primarily consists of his accent and waistline.

But, after Car 54, I can't complain too much about this movie. Snore through it, maybe, but not complain.