Fatherhood

LilRel Howery,Kevin Hart,Alfre Woodard,Deborah Ayorinde

Matthew Logelin's wife Liz passes away after an unexpected early caesarean section delivery of their daughter followed by a pulmonary embolism. At her funeral are him, with his best friends Jordan and Oscar, his mother Anna, as well as Liz's parents Marion and Mike. Matt is now a single father to infant daughter Maddy.The first few months caring for Maddy are rough, especially after both Anna and Liz's parents have gone home. But he manages to raise her alone. After some years, Maddy, who is about 5 years old, gets enrolled in a private school.Matt takes Maddy to the park for a birthday party, where he meets a woman named Lizzie (Swan), there because Oscar and his wife Rose want to set them up. Matt and Lizzie later agree to go out and they have a good time together. Matt introduces Maddy to Lizzie, and they instantly like each other.At school, the boys tease Maddy for what she's wearing. She jumps off to tackle one of them but gashes her forehead open. The school tries to reach Matt, but he eventually checks his phone and rushes to the hospital. He tries to take Maddy away, but they insist that she needs stitches. Matt wants to decline as it's the same hospital where Liz died and he doesn't trust the doctors there, but he relents and lets them work. Feeling as if he neglected Maddy, Matt breaks it off with Lizzie.At work, Howard tells Matt that he wants to send him to Croatia for a job. He takes Maddy to spend time with her grandparents. Matt later sees that Marion wants Maddy to stay with them long-term, which Maddy seems more open to. Marion makes him feel he's making too many mistakes on his own with her, and he tries to take Maddy to go, even though she wants to stay with Liz's parents. Matt then thinks he isn't making Maddy happy, so he agrees to let her stay there for now. While Maddy sleeps, he expresses to her his fears about raising her on his own.Matt returns home alone and is later told at work by Howard that he is retiring and recommending him for his old job. He is thankful, even though this means he might be seeing Maddy even less. Even Jordan and Oscar see that her absence is making Matt feel worse. While going through her room, he finds the necklace of Liz's Maddy had been desperately searching for earlier. When Matt and Oscar are in the airport to head to Croatia for the job, he can't stop thinking about Maddy and decides to bail on the trip to return to her. She hugs her dad and he gives her the necklace. When it is time to go, he bids farewell to Marion and Mike, the former tearing up as she mentions how happy Matt made Liz.Matt and Maddy then to go Lizzie's where he apologizes. She forgives him and agrees to join him and Maddy for ice cream.During the credits, Matt brings Maddy back to school, where they are allowing her to wear jeans, and he shows up in a skirt to make her feel better.