Fatherhood as a single parent

Fatherhood (2021)

Kevin Hart stars in this movie as Matt Logelin as he goes through the path of being a single dad after his beloved wife lost her life during childbirth. This was a very devastating experience for Matt as he had not the slightest of what fatherhood or being a dad was all about since this was his first child and now that his wife was gone he had to face this journey all by himself. Perhaps, it would have been a lot easier if he had his wife with him to go through this parenting journey together.

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Between Matt and his late wife Liz, Matt considered himself to be the immature one and Liz to the matured and organized one. He believed that it would have been better if he had been the one that left while Liz be the one left with the kid. He was just overwhelmed with the whole situation. Even his mother-in-law had little faith in him that he wasn't going to mess the whole thing up. So he made a deal with her to have his daughter (Maddy) with him for a period of time and if anything goes wrong or he fails to perform well as a dad to her then the mother-in-law would pick her up and raise Maddy together with her grandfather.

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The movie was really an inspiring one. You know how an incident happens in a movie which is really sad and you are like, "oh, no! Why did this tragedy have to happen?" I felt bad for Matt having to lose his wife when it was barely ten minutes into the movie. But then again, that was the whole point of the movie because it contributed massively to the kind of message they were trying to pass across.

It's not the typical Kevin Hart kind of movie where he is known for his ridiculous and crazy behavior but it came with a good number of laughs. Like one time when he left a mall where he went to purchase somethings and drove off and came back some seconds later after he realized he had just left baby Liz in a baby scooter aside the mall. Or when he was making a presentation in office and had Liz strapped to his front while because that was the only way to keep her from crying.

I feel Matt might have never really connected with Maddy to the extent he did if his wife Liz had been around. His bravery and courage to raise Maddy single handedly was quite inspiring even though his mother-in-law gave him and offer to raise her and let him off the hook. He also had alternative of hiring a babysitter to do the job for him but he decided to take responsibility over Maddy. Although he did consider the idea but it didn't really go well and he concluded it was going to be him and Maddy.

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It was quite a beautiful thing that Matt managed to still find love again after the demise of his wife. Most people have a hard time moving on after having to go through such experience and it was not any indifferent with Matt not to talk of the responsibility he now had to his little daughter Maddy. The movie had a mix of both laughing moments and also a little bit of teary moments especially if you are the emotional type.

The movie got me thinking which is more tougher; having to go through parenting as a single dad who's faced with a baby girl and it so happens to be your first experience or going through parenting as a single mom faced with the same situation? A lady might have a few experiences especially if she has younger siblings because in some areas she would have contributed to taking care of them together with the mom when they were still tender like feeding the baby, bathing the baby or changing the diapers. Or she would have at least watched her mom as she did those things. But a male child doesn't really have much business with those things.

Fatherhood can be quite a tough experience even with your partner being around, but in Matt's case he was all by himself and yet he turned out to be a really great father and succeeded in proving Liz's mom wrong about the impression she had on him. The movie can be said to be a clear depiction of the good that can come out of every sad situation or tragedy. I give Fatherhood 7.5/10.

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