In Daddy, Danielle Steel’s treacly ode to the humble American paterfamilias, generations of Watson men suffer as nobly as Juanita Moore in Imitation of Life or Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas. At least that’s what Steel wants us to believe. But the socioeconomic differences are hard not to notice—the only Watson man who struggles to provide for a child on his own is 18-year-old Ben (Ben Affleck), stubbornly proving his honor in a short-term experiment before allowing his wealthy father to bankroll a custody battle.
Oliver (Patrick Duffy), Ben’s dad, is a Chicago advertising executive so happily married to Sarah (Kate Mulgrew, angry as usual) that glamorous TV star Charlotte Sampson’s plunging décolletage barely registers when they meet at work. Charlotte (Lynda Carter of Hotline) will feature in his latest perfume campaign, and she’s somehow drawn to Oliver, whose poofy salt-and-pepper hair helps him resemble a human Q-Tip from afar. “I have the life I’ve always wanted and I’m smart enough to know it,” he contentedly tells a colleague, but life has other plans.
Sarah, who sacrificed her dreams in service to Oliver’s career, abruptly abandons her family immediately after Christmas to rediscover herself in a far-flung graduate program. On her way out, she dusts off old chestnuts like “Don’t make this any more difficult for me than it already is” and “Be happy for me” as her husband and children cry. We suspect she’s unlikely to find the fulfillment she’s certain awaits her, but Daddy isn’t a miniseries, which leaves her arc feeling incomplete.
In Sarah’s absence, self-described “conservative traditionalist” Oliver pulls double-duty as mother and father to youngest son Sam (Matthew Lawrence) and boundary-pushing teenagers Melissa (Jenny Lewis) and Ben—the latter of whom abandons his dreams of Princeton after accidentally impregnating a scheming dropout. (Oliver, like so many conservatives before him, offers to pay for an abortion.) And just in case we missed the point about letting go of a departing spouse, he must also support his father George (John Anderson), who isn’t ready to withdraw life support from Oliver’s comatose mother.
Somewhere in all this spectacle, most of the Watsons relocate to California for Oliver’s job, bringing him closer to Charlotte. They bond as “displaced Midwesterners,” the implication being that everyone else lacks family values. Charlotte, hair teased to the heavens, gazes adoringly at Oliver in lieu of a personality, weeping when her Broadway aspirations cause him to break off their engagement. It will take the combined generational wisdom of the Watson men, and a little help from Jesus, to help him understand he took all the wrong lessons from the dissolution of his first marriage.
Daddy’s quasi-religious ending is one we used to see frequently in telefilms (ranging from Baby of the Bride to Holiday Baggage), and here it made me laugh. But even with the limitations of the plot and Duffy’s performance (he’s more comfortable in comedies like Children of the Bride), it’s handsomely made for what it is, which is unadulterated melodrama. Adapted by L. Virginia Browne and directed by Michael Miller (Criminal Behavior), both knee-deep in Steel fare in the early-to-mid ’90s, Daddy holds up more than 30 years later, though it lacks the wicked bathos of the songs Lewis would later record solo and with Rilo Kiley.
Streaming and DVD availability
Daddy is available on DVD and comes and goes on YouTube.
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… But wait, there’s more!
My favorite part of the DVD presentation, besides a back cover photo in which Duffy and Carter essentially recreate the lusty cover of a bodice ripper, is the introduction by Danielle Steel, who reappears at the end to bid us goodnight. Speaking from an office that smells of rich mahogany, as Ron Burgundy might say, she delivers a short presidential address that reads as follows:
Thank you for being with us this evening. “Daddy” is a story that could happen to any man. Oliver Watson thinks he’s happily married until his marriage comes apart and he’s left to be father, mother and provider. As a mother, I know that being a full-time parent is challenging, but being a single parent takes so much more. I hope you enjoy watching “Daddy” and like Oliver as much as I do. Have a wonderful evening.
Danielle Steel
Cranky Lesbian is a disgruntled homosexual with too much time on her hands. Click for film reviews or to follow on Instagram.
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