This movie is so emotional and for no good reason. A guy went to prison because of a malfunctioning product, yet he was treated like a murderer. At first it was funny that he was such a loser for going to prison, then the act got old.

Robert Axle (Kevin Spacey) was an "As Seen on TV" product creator. One of his products was poorly made and severed the fingers of the more absentminded users. He was convicted of gross negligence and went to prison for eight years for the crime. I know that's not at all how that works, but it was necessary for the plot.

When he got out of prison he was about as welcomed by the world as the latest COVID variant. Even his own daughter hated him, yet he stayed with his daughter Claire (Camilla Belle) and her two roommates, Phoebe (Heather Graham) and Donna (Anna Anissimova),while he tried to get back in the "fabrication" game.

Claire was the forlorn daughter with daddy issues. Donna was the roommate who was a fan of Robert. And Phoebe was a violent bitter lesbian who inserted herself far too much into Claire's relationship with her dad, which I didn't think was funny at all. If she was supposed to be Claire's friend, why would she be seeking to create a bigger rift between her and her father? And what "friend" talks to their "friend's" father the way Phoebe did? It was childish, lowbrow, and a new kind of trashy. Phoebe was treating Robert like he was an ex-boyfriend she had to protect Claire from.

This movie was good when it steered away from being emotional and preachy, and frankly, whenever Phoebe was not on screen. But it fell into the same tired pattern that so many movies of this ilk fall into. Let me give you the formula:

On top. Fall from grace. Rebound, but never learning the real lesson. Realizing the real lesson.

And this movie in particular was the missing father kind, which are particularly galling to me because I have found that Hollywood hates working fathers. I don't even know how many movies I've seen with the successful dad who's hated by his family because he's never there.

Claire was royally upset with her father because he wasn't there for her. To me it made her selfish and childish, but for the purposes of this movie she was the victim. I think a better daughter--one who is adult enough--could've seen that her father went to prison for a mistake. A better daughter would've stayed in contact with her dad who was serving time, but Hollywood princess daughters pout, moan, sulk, and wait for their father's to come to them begging for forgiveness for trying to be the best fathers they can. Per Tinseltown we should be asking our children how to raise them.

Invariably, Robert rectified things with Claire by the end. He had been on his way to patching up their relationship when he tripped up. He stole the roommate Donna's identity and opened a credit card in her name. It could've been a small blip, but this movie made it into an earth shattering issue. He needed $5000 to make a prototype of his latest idea and no one would loan him the money. He opened a credit card in Donna's name, got $5000, and turned it into a $125,000 advance.

While Robert was ecstatic that he was back in the invention biz, he ran into three pitifully sad faces like they'd just witnessed a puppy being sacrificed. Claire and her two sidekicks were utterly distraught that Robert would steal Donna's identity. Granted, I'd be mad at that too, but once he said he had the money to fix it, then it would no longer be a problem. Or at least it would've no longer been a problem enough for me to cut my dad off completely.

So, right when things started going Robert's way he was back on the rocks with his daughter and it would take the classic speech digression to make things right. I'm sure you know the speech digression. That's when the protagonist is slated to give a certain speech, but midway through he has an epiphany then he digresses from the rehearsed speech to make it more personal and usually unrelated to what he's talking about. The slow piano music chimes in and the speech is heartfelt, then everyone cheers. It's such a ridiculous cliche, but "Father of Invention" had to have it.

This movie wasn't terrible, just old hat and by now I already get it. If a father is successful he should stop working so much and spend time with his kids. If a father is struggling, then he's a good father, even though a lot of blue collar dads work tons of hours too for the overtime, but blue collar fathers are off limits. I don't know when successful fathers became the enemy to Hollywood writers, but I'm saying that they need a new act.

Much of the film drags along until released prisoner, Kevin Spacey, who went off to jail for 8 years for an invention that maimed people, begins to affect the lives of his estranged daughter and her friends with whom he has gone to live with.

Spacey is destined to be a failure at anything despite his creativeness because of the fact that he is so wound up with his inventive nature, he neglects everyone and everything else. This has been a time honored theme in films, but as stated, the film just plods along until the realization aspect comes about.

Often comic and touching at times, better writing was needed for mid-film.

I was quite surprised at all the ultra negative reviews regarding 'The Father of Invention.' Okay, I'll admit it isn't Kevin Spacey's finest film and obviously it isn't up to the standards of American Beauty, but I found it had a certain amount of charm to it.

Spacey plays a slick 'infomercial' salesman who ends up getting his good-life taken away from him when he goes to jail, thus leaving his wife and daughter high and dry. Fast forward eight years and he's released and desperate to make amends (not to mention lots of money).

It's not the most original of stories and you can probably predict the ending, but it is Kevin Spacey in the lead role and, slightly dubious script or not, he still lends plenty of heavyweight kudos to the whole affair. It's definitely a comedy/drama. If you're expecting a 'laugh-a-minute' affair then you'll be sorely disappointed, but I found it had enough humorous moments to keep me happy.

Like I say, predictable ending and plenty of 'lessons' to teach us, but if you're a fan of Kevin Spacey, it should keep you going until his next offering.