People are saying Bill Burr's apology in new Netflix movie sums up life today perfectly
Topics: News, US News, Netflix, Film and TV
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: News, US News, Netflix, Film and TV
Adapting to new things can often be a challenge, especially if you've already become somewhat stuck in your ways.
This is a message at the centre of the latest film by comedian Bill Burr.
Called Old Dads, it follows dad Jack Kelly, played by Burr, and his friends as they struggle with changes at work and the expectations placed on them by society.
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It comes in the wake of Burr's successful Netflix series F is For Family, where he plays an emotional powder keg dad in the 1980s as his family struggles through financial hardship.
One scene in Old Dads - which was released on Netflix last week - sees Jack apologizing to a room of people at his son's school after an outburst at the director of the kindergarten.
After going to apologize, the director makes him do it to the assembled parents and children.
It's fair to say that the apology is less than sincere.
Jack says: "Looking back I let my emotions get the best of me yesterday. I wish I could have chosen my words a bit differently.
"I'm sorry that six of you heard this and told the over 40. And to any of the children that heard what I said it's never OK to save those words. I was very wrong.
"That's it. Have a nice morning and keep using those paper straws. They get soggy, but they're good for the turtles."
Fans have reacted well to the movie, saying that it is a good reflection of the times we live in, including the insincerity of a lot of public apologies which people make.
One person wrote: "This whole scene made me mad. I'm totally on Bill's side."
Another said: "So apt for this day & age."
A third wrote: "It's CLASSIC. I was celebrating! It's how every apology, where an apology wasn't warranted should be."
The movie includes sections which show the hypocrisy of people who call out others while not addressing their own problematic behaviour.
It also takes a brief look at the insincerity of companies and corporations who adopt progressive language, but fail to make any meaningful changes.
But despite this, Old Dads was not well received by critics, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes giving it a critics' rating of just 24% as it got a critical panning.
Oliver Jones in The Observer wrote: "Rather than challenge himself, Burr instead uses the film to adapt his schtick into a three-hander bro comedy addressing the generational divide regarding modern mores and language."
Meanwhile, David Ehrlich from indieWire said: "The whole 'does it offend you, yeah?' routine only works if someone commits to it, and Burr is too much of a softy at heart to go all the way.
"He doesn’t want to piss people off, he just wants to air his grievances about progressive culture."
After the apology scene, the movie ends with Jack learning to control his anger issues.