Old Dads is a comedy film that follows three middle-aged men who are forced to cope as everything around them changes rapidly. It is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Jack Kelly is married to Leah. They have a son and another child is on the way. He is extremely close to his two best friends, Connor and Mike.
Connor is also married. He has a son named Colin with his wife Cara. Mike, on the other hand, is dating Britney, who does not want to get married or have children.
Jack started a company called Trifecta Classics with Connor and Mike 23 years ago which sells high-end throwback jerseys. They recently sold it to millennials. Jack only went through with this because he was told it was necessary for Nate’s private education.
Aspen, now the head of the company, introduces the rule of letting everyone born before 1988 go. He ends up firing half of the employees on the first day and converts the company into an apparel brand. He also suggests therapy for Jack’s anger issues.
Jack gets into an argument with the school principal, Dr. Lois Schmieckel-Turne, when he is two minutes late to pick Nate up. He ends up insulting her.
Leah scolds him for this as Lois is responsible for writing the letter of recommendation. Jack is given the chance to apologise to all parents and Lois for this but it does not go smoothly.
Britney tells Mike that despite his vasectomy, she is pregnant, completely shocking him as he does not want kids again, even stating that his kids almost ‘killed him’.
Lois offers Jack the role of chairman for the upcoming fundraiser for the school given his experience in sales, which he accepts.
Aspen identifies Ed Cameron as the potential brand ambassador for their brand. He claims that not wanting fame is the new fame.
Ed has been away from human contact for decades and Aspen believes he is the perfect example of not being famous.
He sends the three, along with Travis, another employee, to locate and convince him. On the way, Travis calls them out for a sexist conversation.
In retaliation, Mike asks whether he repeats racist slur for black people in raps, to which he agrees, but cannot say it in front of him.
Jack accidentally hits an armadillo on the road, which attracts Ed. They ask him to join Trifecta. However, another issue arises.
The rental car company sent Aspen the video of their discussions as the car had a recording. Using this, he fires all three of them, and takes away their shares in the company. He even fires Travis as he has a recording of him in his house repeating racist words from raps.
Jack and Mike blame each other and get into a fight. Connor tells Jack he cannot talk to him because Leah got into a fight with Cara and criticised her parenting style.
At the fundraiser auction, Jack announces a two-hour conversation with Lois. He is getting bids, but after he bids $3000, everyone else stops, and he ends up winning.
When Lois asks about Jack’s financial situation after losing his job and company, he gets angry and insults her again.
Leah gets extremely angry with Jack for his anger issues and doesn’t even let him enter their house. Leah and Cara make up and attempt to help Britney, who is distraught because she feels Mike doesn’t want to be with her.
Old Dads ending explained in detail:
Why was Aspen fired?
Jack finds Mike at a casino. As Connor arrives, the three see Aspen there. When they confront him, he reveals that he was fired as well.
He got into trouble for selling Ed Cameron t-shirts with the term ‘spirit animal’, which is offensive to Native Americans.
All four end up at a strip club where they have moments of introspection. Jack gets a message that Leah is in labour.
Do the three old Dads realise their errors?
Connor starts choking and accidentally gets into a fight with the bouncers. Somehow, the three manage to get out.
They get a ride, but the driver turns out to be a jerk. With no time, they decide to ride the E-scooters that Jack used to loathe.
The somehow reach the hospital, but not in time. Jack feels awful as he missed the birth of his daughter, but Leah isn’t mad at him.
Mike apologises to Britney and proposes right in the middle of the hospital. She does not respond but asks for him to put in some effort.
Connor and Cara get into a fight where he calls him cold. When she asks him if he wants to leave her, he says no. He just honestly wants to be less afraid of her.
What happens at the end?
As Jack plays catch with Nate, his voiceover gives an update on their lives. They sent Nate to a local public school instead of a private one.
Lois ended up getting arrested because she was embezzling money from the fundraisers. Ed Cameron came out and married the old guy from Judas Priest.
Mike sued the new owners of Trifecta Classics for age discrimination and they got some of the shares back. Connor used the money for a neck lift as people were able to guess his true age because of it.
Jack has been in therapy and claims there’s improvement. When a stranger criticises him for carrying his daughter while playing catch, he simply thanks him. He insults him after he leaves.
This is an actual improvement as Jack’s tendency to get into fights often ruined his own life. A young guy on an E-scooter crashes in front of Jack, bringing the movie to a close.
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