Review: Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son

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Breakfast With Scot

Chaste, and lacking wit

By PETER KEOUGH | October 21, 2008

1.5 Stars

A former NHL hockey star famed for fighting, Eric (Tom Cavanagh) seems the straightest guy around, and he and his partner, Sam (Ben Shenkman), are so un-gay, they don’t even hold hands. Making up for their lack of swishy clichés is 11-year-old Scot (Noah Bernett); he’s the son of Sam’s brother Billy’s recently deceased girlfriend, and until Billy can be tracked down, he’s become Eric and Sam’s responsibility. Will Eric get in touch with his own inner 11-year-old gay child and/or learn the responsibilities of parenthood? Platitudes aside, Laurie Lind’s unctuous fusion of Three Men and a Baby, La Vie en Rose, and every other gay rom-com ever made succumbs to its chasteness, its lack of wit, and Bernett’s obnoxious performance — all the twirls and make-up and Christmas carols can’t hide the fact that Scot is a spoiled, charmless little shit. Cavanagh brings hangdog grace to Eric; he deserves better company at the breakfast table. 90 minutes | Kendall Square

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