James Franco is every parent’s nightmare in the new trailer for Why Him?, which sees him square off with Bryan Cranston in a very awkward Meet the Parents situation. Ned (Cranston) is horrified when he meets his daughter’s boyfriend Laird (Franco), a Silicon Valley billionaire with a lavish lifestyle and a total lack of social skills. Even worse, he learns that Laird plans to propose and wants his blessing. Zoey Deutch plays the unfortunate young woman caught in the middle of it all.
The trope of overprotective fathers who hate their daughters’ boyfriends has been played out for a long time, but Franco’s Laird is so wonderfully weird—he tattoos the family’s Christmas card on his back, “Happy Holidays” and all—that he makes it feel almost new again. Also noteworthy in the trailer: Keegan-Michael Key as Laird’s estate manager and Megan Mullally (a delight, as always) as Ned’s wife.
Why Him? comes to theaters Dec. 25.
