Brad Whitaker is a radio host trying to get his stepchildren to love him and call him Dad. But his plans turn upside down when their biological father, Dusty Mayron, returns.
Stepfather Brad Whitaker is hoping for his stepchildren to love him and treat him like a dad. All is going well until the biological father, Dusty Mayron, shows up, then everything takes a toll. His stepchildren start putting him second and their father first, and now Dusty will have to learn that being a good dad is about pains and struggles. Brad will also experience once again what it's like to be a stepdad.
Aspiring to be the perfect husband to his beautiful new wife, Sarah, and the best super-dad to her two young kids, Megan and Dylan, the smooth-jazz radio-station manager with a heart of gold, Brad, is, indeed, a beloved stepfather. However, just as things started to work out for the family, Brad's polar opposite and Sarah's cool ex-husband with the perfect six-pack, Dusty, decides to pay a visit for a quick catch-up with the children. Suddenly, this new alpha-dad gets all the attention in the house with his impressive skills, dragging Brad in a fierce no-holds-barred competition for the "King of the Castle" title. Who will prevail in this mano-a-mano paternal face-off?—Nick Riganas
Mild-mannered radio executive Brad Whitaker struggles to be a good stepfather to his wife Sara's two children, Megan and Dylan, and is seemingly sterile after an accident to his testicles some years ago. The children begin to grow closer to Brad, with Dylan confiding in him that he is being picked on at school and Megan asking him to take her to a father/daughter dance at her school. One night, the kids' biological father, Sara's ex-husband Dusty Mayron, calls and discovers Sara's marriage with Brad. He suddenly announces he will be visiting the next day. Sara hesitates to let her ex-husband into their home, but Brad convinces her that it is important for the kids that their father and stepfather establish a respectful relationship..
A father and a stepfather compete in a series of affections to win over their family. With all of that going on, it begins to affect the rest of the family. Since the father and the stepfather do not fully get along with each other, they try to do what is best for the family.—RECB3
Mild-mannered radio executive Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) struggles to be a good stepfather to his wife Sara's (Linda Cardellini) two children, Megan and Dylan, and is seemingly sterile after an accident to his testicles some years ago. The children begin to grow closer to Brad, with Dylan confiding in him that he is being picked on at school and Megan asking him to take her to a father/daughter dance at her school. One night, the kids' father and Sara's former husband Dusty Mayron (Mark Wahlberg) calls and discovers Sara's marriage with Brad. He subsequently and suddenly announces he will be visiting the next day. Sara is hesitant about her former husband being in their home, but Brad convinces her that it is important for the kids that their father and stepfather establish boundaries with each other.
When Dusty arrives, Brad is immediately intimidated by his more attractive and muscular appearance, and how he easily gets along with Megan and Dylan - however, Dusty continually charms Brad into letting him stay, despite Sara protesting about the kind of man that Dusty really is. Brad soon wises up when it becomes clear that Dusty intends to drive Brad out of his kids' lives and reconcile with Sara. After multiple instances of Dusty showing Brad up - including getting the kids a dog, finishing a tree-house that Brad wanted to build with Dylan, and attempting to drive a wedge between Brad and Sara by taking them to a fertility doctor (Bobby Cannavale), hoping that Brad's inability to give Sara a baby will send her into Dusty's arms, the two men appear to reach an understanding after working together to teach Dylan how to defend himself. Additionally, Brad and Sara are overjoyed to learn that Brad's sperm count has increased significantly (implied to be a result of Dusty "invading his territory"), giving them hope of having a child together.
However, Brad is stunned when Dusty reveals that he still intends to drive Brad out of the family. Desperate, Brad spends tens of thousands of dollars on early Christmas gifts, including a pony and 18,000-dollar seats at a basketball game. At the game, Dusty once again shows Brad up by revealing himself to be friends with the coach to Dylan's favorite team, and an enraged Brad begins drinking heavily. During half-time, Brad is chosen to try to shoot a basketball to win a prize. Drunk, Brad goes on a rant about Dusty before accidentally pelting a cheerleader and a disabled child in a wheelchair in the face with basketballs. Sara kicks Brad out of the house; however, when Dusty tries to comfort her, she rejects him, and forces him to step up as a dad to help his kids with their busy schedules.
Four days later, Brad is living in his office at work, depressed. Dusty, meanwhile, is overwhelmed by the many responsibilities of being a full-time father. When Dusty decides to call it quits and leave on the day of Megan's father-daughter dance, his friend Griff (Hannibal Buress) goes to Brad and convinces him to fight for his family. Brad catches Dusty at the airport and tries to get him to come back. Dusty admits that he cannot handle the hard parts about being a father and admires Brad for putting up with all the things that he has to go through. Brad says that all of the terrible parts about being a dad is worth it, because in the end he is doing it for his kids. This convinces Dusty to go to the dance, and he and Brad arrive together. There, they discover that the classmate who was picking on Dylan at school is a girl, and almost get into a fight with her father when Dylan physically retaliates. However, Dusty finally decides to follow Brad's lead on being a father, and instead quells the fight by starting a dance-off. Brad and Sara reconcile, and Dusty decides to stay and be a good "co-dad" to his kids.
Later, the whole family is happy; Brad and Sara have a new baby boy named after Griff, and Megan and Dylan have finally accepted Brad as their stepfather. Dusty, who is now has a job as a Panda DJ and become wealthy through his work, has moved in across the street after building a castle there, and he and Brad are now friends. Dusty eventually remarried to a woman named Karen (Alessandra Ambrosio), who has a daughter and thus Dusty becoming a stepfather himself. Sara is immediately intimidated by Karen after meeting her; she feels that Karen's looks surpass hers and jealous of the latter's professions as a doctor and a novelist. Dusty is now in the exact same position that he put Brad in a year ago - at odds with his stepdaughter's incredibly intimidating father, Roger (John Cena).
