Chris Stokes | Through the Shattered Lens

At first glance, Darnell (Taye Diggs) appears to be a nice and charming guy.

He appears to have a good job. He’s confident. He’s seems to be all about family. He’s the guy who tells his stepdaughter’s boyfriend to look him in the eyes because “that’s showing respect,” but he somehow manages to do it without coming across as being a complete jerk. Darnell spends a lot of time talking about the correct way to show respect and how to act like a man and his wife, Asia (Tamar Braxton), appreciates it. Her ex-husband, Tim (TJ Shaw), was irresponsible and hurtful. Her teen daughter, Melanie (Jessica Jarrell), is going through that rebellious phase and Asia is happy to have someone who can back her up when it comes to being a parent. And Darnell …. well, Darnell is all about family. In fact, one might even say that he’s a bit obsessed with finding the perfect family….

Of course, Darnell’s name isn’t really Darnell. He’s used many different names over the years and he’s been a part of many different families. Though Darnell might seem nice and polite on the surface, he regularly has fantasies where he loses control. When he’s alone, he talks to his other personalities. He also remembers how he murdered his last family and went on the run.,..

Stepfather, as you already guessed, is an uncredited remake of the classic 1987 thriller, The Stepfather. Taye Diggs steps into the role that was previously played by Terry O’Quinn, Robert Wightman, and Dylan Walsh. (Wightman played the role in Stepfather III while Walsh took over for the 2009 remake that literally no one remembers.) Is this latest version of Stepfather any good?

Define good.

I say that because this is a Tubi original and I think you can very much argue that, when compared to other Tubi originals, Stepfather isn’t bad. The film is in focus. You can hear the dialogue. The pacing sometimes feels a bit off and the scenes of two detectives searching for Darnell often feel like filler but, for what it is, Stepfather is an entertaining film. I watched it on Friday while it was raining outside and I enjoyed it. It can’t really compare to the original film because the original film was as much a satire as it was a thriller. The remake does have a few moments where Darnell’s attempts to be a “perfect father” seem to comment on all the psychobabble about “respect” that was sold by the television shows that Darnell probably watched as a youth. But, for the most part, Stepfather is a straight-forward thriller. There aren’t a lot of surprises, especially if you’re someone who has watched a lot of Lifetime films. But the film still holds your attention.

Not surprisingly, the strongest thing about the film was the memorably unhinged performance of Taye Diggs. If the original film was made all the more effective by Terry O’Quinn’s initial blandness as the title character, this version wastes no time in establishing that Darnell is a bit unstable. After murdering his previous family, he dances. When he meets Asia in a grocery store, he delivers every line like a charming wolf on the hunt. When he argues with his other personalities, Diggs does a good job of establishing each personality as an individual character. Diggs shows what a good actor can do with familiar material.

Stepfather is available on Tubi.

Here are 6 more reviews of 6 other films that I watched this year. Why six? Because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers, that’s why.

The Big Game (dir by Jalmari Helander)

In The Big Game, Samuel L. Jackson plays the President of the United States and you would think that fact alone would make this film an instant classic. Unfortunately, this film never really takes advantage of the inherent coolness of Samuel L. Jackson playing the leader of the free world. When Air Force One is sabotaged and crashes in the wilderness of Finland, President Jackson has to rely on a young hunter (Onni Tommila) from a group of CIA agents disguised as terrorists. Tommila does a pretty good job and the scenery looks great but at no point does Samuel L. Jackson says, “Check out this executive action, motherfucker,” and that’s a huge missed opportunity. As for the rest of the film, it takes itself a bit too seriously and if you can’t figure out the big twist from the minute the movie starts, you obviously haven’t seen enough movies.

The Connection (dir by Cedric Jiminez)

Taking place over the 1970s, the French crime thriller tells the largely true story of the efforts of a French judge (played by Jean Dujardin) to take down a ruthless gangster (Gilles Lellouche) who is the head of one of the biggest drug cartels in the world. The Connection run for a bit too long but, ultimately, it’s a stylish thriller that does a very good job of creating a world where literally no one can be trusted. Dujardin, best known here in the States for his Oscar-winning role in The Artist, does a great job playing an honest man who is nearly driven to the point of insanity by the corruption all around him.

Graduation Day (dir by Chris Stokes)

Hey, it’s another found footage horror film! Bleh! Now, I should admit that this horror film — which is NOT a remake of that classic 1980s slasher — does have a fairly clever twist towards the end, that goes a long way towards explaining a lot of the inconsistencies that, up until that point, had pretty much dominated the film. But, even with that in mind and admitting that Unfriended and Devil’s Due worked wonders with the concept, it’s still hard to feel any enthusiasm about yet another found footage horror film.

McFarland USA (dir by Niki Caro)

McFarland USA is an extremely predictable but likable movie. Kevin Costner plays a former football coach who, while teaching at a mostly Latino high school, organizes a cross country team that goes on to win the state championship. It’s based on a true story and, at the end of the film, all of the real people appear alongside the actors who played them. There’s nothing about this film that will surprise you but it’s still fairly well-done. Even Kevin Costner, who usually gets on my last nerve, gives a good performance.

Taken 3 (dir by Olivier Megaton)

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is back and he’s killing even more people! Fortunately, they’re all bad people but you really do have to wonder what type of dreams Bryan has whenever he goes to sleep. In Taken 3, Bryan’s wife (Famke Janssen) has been murdered and Bryan has been framed. He has to solve the case and kill the bad guys while staying one step ahead of the police (represented by a bored-looking Forest Whitaker). Neeson does all of his usual Taken stuff — the intense phone conversation, the steely glare, and all the rest — but at this point, it has literally been parodied to death. If you’re into watching Liam Neeson kill ugly people, Taken 3 will provide you with adequate entertainment but, for the most part, it’s but a shadow of the first Taken.

War Room (dir by Alex Kendrick)

I saw the War Room in Oklahoma. It was being shown as part of a double feature with The Martian, of all things! Anyway, this film is about an upper middle class family that hits rock bottom but they’re saved by the power of prayer! Lots and lots of prayer! Seriously, this film almost qualifies as “prayer porn.” Anyway, the film was badly acted, badly written, incredibly heavy-handed, and ran on way too long but, on the plus side, it did eventually end.