Dad's Home is a 2010 romantic drama film directed by Bradford May after a screenplay written by Adam Rockoff.
Plot
Ben Westman is a widower father of a daughter, Lindsay, and a son, Dylan. He is extremely busy and has very little time for his children, for whom he hired a housekeeper/nanny that works all day long in his house. Being abruptly fired from the firm that he co-founded 20 years ago, he decides not to look for another housekeeper to replace Nula, that has decided to leave the job abruptly, as well. Thinking that he could stay home to take care of his kids and to do all the house work, Ben finds himself in trouble for not knowing how to do all the every day jobs required in a large house. Little by little, as Ben cooks, cleans and raises his pre-teen son Dylan, he becomes more skilled in doing all the jobs, which were previously carried out by his wife and, after her death, by Nula. Behaving in an "ungentlemanly manner" at school, Dylan comes into conflict with some classmates of his. Ben has to be present at school to discuss the matter in person. After meeting with the principal, Ben meets Dylan's teacher, Hope Jensen. The two rapidly connect with each other on a personal, sentimental and emotional level. Even though the children need desperately a firm fatherly hand, they also need a maternal presence and understanding. Ben's daughter Lindsay, who needs some space in order to be with her friend Brandon, seeks the understanding of a woman. With some little help that comes from Ben's brother, Brian, and Hope, the relationship among the father and the two children improves constantly. At the same time, Hope becomes Ben's first post-widowing date and his girlfriend. Being offered a job in Cleveland, Ohio, Ben decides to move with the children in the city where the job will be. After some second thoughts, realizing that he would lose Hope as well as the unique bond created among the four of them, he decides to stay and keep what he has gotten; a lovely woman, that is entirely accepted and embraced by the children.
