100 Best Quotes From Fatherhood

Fatherhood starring Kevin Hart tells the story of single father Matt Longelin who struggles with raising his daughter Maddy after his wife Liz passes away giving birth. We watch Matt struggle with things such as diaper changes, feedings, and unsolicited advice from both his mother-in-law and mother.

Here is the scoop on the best quotes From Fatherhood…

1. “This sucks.” – Matt

The film opens with Matt standing at the pulpit at his wife Liz’s funeral. He struggles with what to say. Liz’s passing happened so fast and was such a shock.

2. “The both of you are gonna get through this, because the lord has a plan for you.” – Anna

Matt’s mother comforts him during the later minutes of Liz’s funeral. She understands he is grieving not only for his own loss of his wife, but also for his new born baby’s loss of her mother.

3. “You’re just gonna pick yourself up and be this wonderful special guy you’ve always been.” – Anna

Matt’s mother reminds him of his potential. While he feels defeated in the moment, he will come back from it and do right by his daughter.

4. “We have to do this soon.” – Dr. Jarvis

During a flashback to when Matt and Liz were preparing to have their baby, Dr. Jarvis advises that they induce the birth a couple weeks early.

5. “The baby’s not due for another two weeks.” – Liz

Liz shows concern for inducing the baby early. She is afraid that the baby won’t be healthy if it is not fully developed. Matt’s face shows fear as well.

6. “Your amniotic fluids low, and your daughters already a healthy size — so let’s get her out.” – Dr. Jarvis

Dr. Jarvis comforts the couple informing them that there is good reason to induce the baby early. Also, she indicates that there should be no concern of the baby being underdeveloped.

7. “You would’ve knew that if you were our regular doctor, who chose this week of all weeks to go to Maui, which is insane.” – Matt

Dr. Jarvis let’s it leak that the couple is having a girl. Matt was unaware as he asked to be surprised at birth. He sarcastically complains that their usual doctor chose to be away during this very important week.

8. “Why not go bodysurf. You know, it’s just our first kid.” – Matt

Matt continues to complain; this time, a bit more sarcastically. Liz nudges him to relax and accept their fate.

9. “Also, she’s still breech, so I wanna schedule a cesarean for this evening.” – Dr. Jarvis

Dr. Jarvis reveals that the baby’s positioning requires not only a cesarean birth but immediacy. Matt and Liz flinch at the thought of suddenly having their baby in the same night.

10. “Well I haven’t even set up the crib.” – Matt

On a more serious note, Matt reveals that despite Liz’s demands previously, he has yet to construct the crib. Liz shoots him a glare.

11. “Are you really ready for this?” – Liz

Liz questions Matt on whether or not he is prepared to take on the responsibility of being a father. She is afraid that he is already slacking off on the job and the baby hasn’t even arrived yet.

12. “This evening? Can we do it tomorrow? Cause I got a fantasy football draft. Um, me and some guys from work, we put a nice little pool together and we — I’m kidding. Why are you taking me seriously?” – Matt

Matt stresses Liz out with his jokes about holding off the birth of their child to participate in fantasy football activities. Luckily, he smooths things over quickly before Liz grew too upset.

13. “Why couldn’t you guys give us adequate warning?” – Marion

Over skype, Liz’s mother complains that she was not given time to fly out to her daughter to see the birth of her grandchild. She doesn’t understand the circumstances that Matt and Liz were put in.

14. “We just thought it’d be fun to surprise you. We said ‘you know, we should have this baby tonight and mess with Marion.'” – Matt

Matt jokingly mocks his mother-in-law. Liz stays quiet while her mother and husband bicker.

15. “Love your sense of humor Matt.” – Marion

Marion accepts the mocking from Matt. She revokes her argument that she should’ve been given time to be there herself.

16. “Yeah, well at least I got one.” – Matt

Matt continues to mock his mother-in-law; this time he implies that she is too serious. At this point, Liz prepares to end the call with her mother.

17. “I want to be in the room with my daughter, and to see my granddaughter when she enters the world.” – Marion

Marion continues to plea. She asks that she be kept on Skype while the baby comes.

18. “Like you took care of cousin Janey’s baby?” – Marion

When Matt reminds Marion that he will be there once the baby arrives, Marion reminds him of a babysitting fail from the past. Liz defends Matt by arguing that the incident was so long ago.

19. “You don’t put a baby over your lap and then strap a seatbelt over you in the passenger seat in an automobile driving to 7-Eleven.” – Marion

Marion continues to harp on Matt’s history in childcare. She describes the incident in great detail.

20. “I know that you don’t put a baby over your lap and then strap a seatbelt over you in the passenger seat in an automobile driving to 7-Eleven. I know that!” – Matt

Matt responds to Marion claiming that he knows what he did was not acceptable. However, he seems to remember the incident clearly as well.

21. “I’m ready. I’m ready to dance.” – Matt

Despite the immediacy, Matt gets excited about having this baby. He implies that he is ready to be a father within the next few minutes.

22. “Oh hey, stay away from that tuna casserole — the one in the middle — tastes like ass.” – Oscar

Matt’s friend Oscar lightens the mood at Liz’s funeral with a comment about the food. Matt reminds Oscar that his mother Anna made that casserole.

23. “Let me tell you something; that speech, you went up there and you talked.” – Jordan

Matt’s friend Jordan is short on words to describe the speech Matt gave at the funeral.

24. “I would’ve assumed you’d have written something but you said ‘no, I’m freestyling this'” – Jordan

Jordan continues to describe Matt’s speech. He acknowledges that Matt didn’t seem prepared, but then again, how could he have been.

25. “I promise you, I’mma punch you in the face. Don’t say nothing else to me.” – Matt

Matt doesn’t take well to Jordan’s comments. He promises to resort to violence if Jordan continues talking to him.

26. “I love my anesthesiologist.” Liz

During another flashback, Liz and Matt are preparing to meet their baby girl. Matt tells Liz that he loves her. Liz responds jokingly that she loves the anesthesiologist.

27. “It’s happening. I wanna look, but I don’t wanna look. Oh my god, we about to be parents.” – Matt

The time has come to have this baby, and Matt shows his angst. He announces to Liz that the doctor is completing the procedure and baby will be there any minute.

28. “Was she dizzy earlier? She’s having trouble breathing.” – Hospital Nurse

When Matt and a nurse try to transport Liz to visit the baby, she collapses in their arms and stops breathing. Before this moment, Liz had shown nothing to indicate that she was having any trouble breathing or that she was dizzy.

29. “Your wife had a pulmonary embolism. Uh, a blood clot travelled to her lungs.” – Hospital Doctor

After the nurses and the doctor analyze Liz’s condition, they come to a conclusion. The doctor begins to tell Matt the news.

30. “Don’t tell me my wife is dead. Don’t tell me my wife is dead.” – Matt

Before either the doctor or the nurse can get the bad news out, Matt interprets their facial expressions. He cries and begs in the hallway until Marion and Mike approach him and realize something has gone terribly wrong.

31. “I would trade everything to spend one more day with you.” – Matt

Back in present day at the funeral, Matt continues his speech. He can barely speak in full sentences without his voice breaking.

32. “He’s not ready for a baby. He hasn’t even put the crib together.” – Marion

Marion speaks with a family member at the funeral about her understanding of Matt’s ability to raise this baby on his own.

33. “Well you know, he’s always been extremely immature.” – Family member

Also at the funeral, a family member reminds Marion about Matt’s well-known immaturity. Unfortunately, Matt overhears and takes offense.

34. “You know Maddy, if you could have only one parent, I wish you could’ve had your mom, cause she would’ve been better at it.” – Matt

Matt pays homage to his late wife by addressing that he believes she would have been better at being a dingle parent. He indirectly states that he wishes he could have taken Liz’s place.

35. “Tell me what it is? Are you hungry? Huh? Want your diaper changed again?” – Matt

In the middle of the night, Matt struggles to decipher Maddy’s cries. He offers all of the services he knows before deciding she must be hungry.

36. “We think you should move back to Minnesota.” – Marion

Marion announces that she and Anna feel that Matt should move back to his hometown so that the grandmothers can help with Maddy.

37. “I’m not alone, okay? My job is here — there are no good tech jobs at home — my friends are here.” – Matt

When Marion and Anna suggest that Matt doesn’t have enough help where he lives, Matt replies that he has enough left there to stick around for.

38. “Liz is here, and every place that I look here, every single place that I look makes me think of her.” – Matt

Matt lists all of the people and places he still has in this town. He refuses to even consider moving back to Minnesota.

39. “Liz was to go away to grad school and then come back and work and live. That was the plan before she met you.” – Marion

Marion reveals that she planned for Liz to live life differently than she had. Marion implies that it was Matt’s involvement that changed everything.

40. “Do you know that I love her Marion, because I doubt that you really do.” – Matt

Matt defends himself by clarifying his love for his late wife and newborn daughter. He is afraid that Marion is unaware.

41. “You wanna keep Maddy to yourself because you need a life raft.” – Marion

Marion snaps back at Matt, stating that he only wants Maddy all to himself to make himself look better. It is a terrible accusation from a mother-in-law

42. “I’m sorry I messed up your plan.” – Matt

Matt sarcastically apologizes for arriving in Liz’s life and causing Marion’s plan for her daughter to come to a screeching halt.

43. “If there is one piece of advice I could give you about bringing up a kid — let go.” – Mike

Matt’s father-in-law, Mike, tries to share experience with Matt. Mike is much better at convincing Matt than Marion.

44. “Liz loved you, and it made me happy to see that, and I also saw how much you loved her.” – Mike

Mike expresses his appreciation for Matt despite Marion’s comments against him. Mike has more faith in Matt.

45. “I’ll probably need about ten to twenty years.” – Matt

When Matt’s employer offers for him to take as much time off as he needs, Matt informs him that grieving over his wife’s sudden and unexpected passing would take a lot longer than how long his company can allow him to take off for.

46. “We’ve been making a list. We need onesies, and a lock — a toilet lock. You know they can drown in the toilet.” – Marion

In hopes to intimidate Matt, Marion lists supplies that are still needed around the home to baby-proof the place. She implies that Matt is not responsible enough to baby proof the home himself.

47. “Well since you refused to move back to Minnesota, I’ll stay six months.” – Marion

Matt asks Marion how long she plans on staying with him now that the funeral is over. Marion uses this opportunity to scare Matt into agreeing to what she wants.

48. “What would I look like going home before I know that you are capable of taking care of my newborn grandchild?” – Marion

Marion shows concern for leaving town before Matt proves himself to be a responsible father. Matt however is very hopeful that he can talk her into letting him prove himself by leaving him to do the work alone.

49. “How about, when you go back, I promise to give you updates — let you know how Maddy’s doing? I’ll post pictures on my instagram all the time. ” Matt

Matt offers multiple compromises to Marion hoping that she will give in. Marion finally agrees to go home when Anna leaves as long as Matt follows through with his offers.

50. “I can’t do it — not without Liz.” – Matt

Matt’s confidence dwindles as uphill battles continue to come his way. He expresses to his mother that he no longer believes that he can’t raise this baby without his wife.

51. You just have to do what’s best for her. That’s all you have to do the rest of your life, and I believe you can do that.” – Anna

Anna comforts Matt reminding him that he is not expected to go above and beyond; he simply needs to do right by his daughter day by day.

52. “I’m going to be praying for you ten times a day.” – Anna

While Anna and Marion prepare to leave for Minnesota, Anna hugs her son and tells him that she will be praying for his success with Maddy multiple times every day.

53. “Oh, I thought I should tell you, that you got one of your wishes. I’m changing a lot of diapers.” – Matt

Matt speaks to Liz in a prayer-like form. He references an inside joke the couple before Maddy was born and Liz passed.

54. “Look Maddy, we’re about to pass the school that your mom wanted you to go to — which means that’s where you’re gonna go.” – Matt

Matt announces the school he is passing to baby Maddy. He reiterates that he plans to send Maddy to the school that he knew Liz would have wanted her to go to.

55. “Well, sorry but this is a group for new mothers.” – Support group member

In hopes to get some tips, Matt stops by what is advertised as a ”new parent” meeting. A member unfairly excludes him.

56. “With this upgrade, there’s thousands and I mean thousands of preset visuals from flooring to uh… to walls to lighting that really offers — you hear crying?” – Matt

Back to work, Matt runs a presentation in a meeting. He is interrupted by the sound of Maddy’s crying.

57. “Once again, it’s about giving our customers what they want, which is simplicity.” – Matt

After combatting the distant crying, Matt holds Maddy while he completes his presentation. His colleagues are kindly understanding.

58. “Just wanted to say, great presentation Matt. Definitely memorable. We’ll be talking this week.” – Fionna

A colleague that was present for Matt’s presentation steps in to follow up. Matt thanks her because he believes that his boss has him in the office to fire him.

59. “I believe you have to treat the infant with respect.” – Summer

After his big meeting at work was interrupted by caring for Maddy, Matt hires a babysitter for a night.

60. “I don’t care about no girls, man. What makes you think I care about girls right now?” – Matt

Jordan pushed for Matt to stay out late and meet some women. Matt has no interest in mingling with women.

61. “That’s daddy’s new best friend. He brings us our formula, our diapers. He gives us everything we need to we don’t have to talk to people again.” – Matt

Matt greets the delivery man with Maddy in his arms. He jokes about the delivery services helping him avoid interacting with people.

62. “You didn’t forget the pediatrician’s visit, did you?” – Marion

Marion makes a surprise visit to remind Matt about the pediatrician’s visit scheduled for Maddy. She accuses him of forgetting about it.

63. “Matt, you’re not a joke. Maddy is doing great. She’s moved up to the 60th percentile in weight and 70th in height” – Maddy’s pediatrician

Maddy’s Doctor corrects Matt’s insecure comments. She informs him and Marion that Maddy is in great health.

64. “I hope you don’t mind me saying this but, your wife would be very proud of you.” – Maddy’s pediatrician

Maddy’s pediatrician compliments Matt on his successes. She steps in and tells comforts him on how Liz would feel about his progress.

65. “Today was a good day for you as a parent. You keep all these little victories like you had today in a little box inside you. They’ll be your most prized possessions.” – Marion

Marion shows her soft side. She congratulates Matt on the positively resulted pediatrician’s visit.

66. “Remember when I caught you guy’s messing around in here?” – Marion

When Matt and Maddy visit Marion and Mike, Matt admires Liz’s childhood bedroom. Marion reminisces about the days when Liz and Matt were young.

67. “I brought a lot of things down from the attic from her childhood.” – Marion

Maat acknowledges that Liz’s room looks different and more decorated. Marion states that she used old knick-knacks from Liz’s childhood to spruce up the room in her memory.

68. “You think maybe you can watch Maddy for me tonight?” – Matt

Matt accepts Marion’s help finally and asks her to watch Maddy for the night. He says he wants a night to visit friends while he is visiting his hometown.

69. “I’m just hoping I can be half as good a mom as you were with me.” – Matt

Matt didn’t use the time to visit friends. Instead, he his mother without having to keep an eye on Maddy.

70. “I think it’s a new hairstyle that could catch on if given a chance.” – Matt

Matt has trouble doing Maddy’s hair for the day. She jokingly asks him what he did and he responds with this sarcastic comment.

71. “All the girl’s are wearing skirts, but skirts make me feel like I forgot my pants.” – Maddy

Maddy complains about the school’s dress code. She is not comfortable following it if it means she has to wear a skirt simply because she is a girl.

72. “Maddy, do you like going to school here?” – Matt

Matt asks Maddy about how she likes the school she is attending. He is afraid that she is not enjoying it recently.

73. “Mommy wanted me to be here. I like it!” – Maddy

Maddy only expresses that the likes the school in correlation with knowing it’s what her mother wanted. she doesn’t mention anything about the school itself that she likes.

74. “Maddy it’s all you. You wanna check or bet.” – Matt

Matt and his friends Oscar and Jordan allow Maddy to join their poker game. Maddy finds great success at the game.

75. “I think I know why Oscar and Rose insisted I come today. I think we’re being set up.” – Lizzie/Swan

Matt meets a woman at a children’s birthday party. She realizes that she was pressured to come to the party for a very specific reason.

76. “You have to at least show her that wearing girl’s clothing is an option.” – Sister Kathleen

A nun working for Maddy’s school scolds Matt for his careless way of styling and dressing Maddy.

77. “We’re on our own, and we’re fine.” – Matt

Matt defends the integrity of his family scenario. He acknowledges that it is not traditional but that they are making the best of it.

78. “You must have had a good example of how to be a dad.” – Lizzie/Swan

Swan assumes that Matt’s parenting skills are a result of watching his father succeed. Matt corrects her.

79. “What are you gonna do huh? Are you gonna ground me because I’m late.” – Matt

Maddy stays up late with the babysitter to scold Matt for being under 20 minutes later than when he promised to get back home after a night out with Swan. Matt jokingly asks how Maddy is planning on punishing him.

80. “Sorry, it’s bring your kid to work day so you can only imagine.” – Matt

While Matt continues to work from home, he struggles to get through a virtual meeting. Maddy keeps interrupting him and getting in the way of his meeting.

81. “Oh my gosh, there’s a booger on your shirt.” – Maddy

While playing a game against Matt, Maddy distracts him with lies. Matt chuckles at her attempts.

82. “Saturday night, I gotta go out — but Jennifer’s mom said you can stay the night.” – Matt

Matt announces to Maddy that he is leaving her overnight. Maddy is a bit offended, but accepts that her father has an obligation.

83. “I wanna introduce you to somebody that I have been seeing.” – Matt

Matt prepares to introduce Maddy to Swan. He takes Maddy to the amusement park for the day before mentioning his new friend.

84. “I do hear there’s a cool spiders exhibit in this kids’ museum.” – Lizzie/Swan

Swan makes suggestions of what to do together to Maddy. Maddy appreciates the friendliness.

85. “I used to play with these ducks when I was little!” – Maddy

On a walk around the park, Maddy recognizes duck statues that she had played with when she was younger. She crawls weaves in between them and crawls over them like she had in the past.

86. “And then maybe in the middle you could like add some fire or something.” – Lizzie/Swan

Maddy and Swan get crafty on Maddy’s bedroom wall. Swan compliments Maddy’s artwork and suggests more additives.

87. “She wanted to come in and say goodnight though, is that okay?” – Matt

Maddy asks if Swan is spending the night. Matt tells her that’s not happening, but that Swan did wait around to say goodnight to Maddy.

88. “You forgot the two kisses!” – Maddy

Matt starts to walk out of Maddy’s room for the night without performing their bedtime ritual of two kisses. Maddy scolds him and he spins around to correct it.

89. “I just forgot something. I’m a little upset with myself.” – Matt

After forgetting to give Maddy two kisses at bedtime, Matt is upset with himself. Swan notices that he is.

90. “Here we have a rule that all girls wear skirts.” – Sister Kathleen.

After months of badgering Matt about making Maddy follow the school dress code, Sister Kathleen of Maddy’s school calls Maddy into the office. Maddy is handed a skirt to wear and asked to change.

91. “Are those boys underwear? Maddy wears boys underwear!” – School boy

Once changed into the skirt, Maddy’s undergarments are exposed. A boy on the playground points out that Maddy’s undergarments are meant to be boy’s undergarments. This leads to a physical altercation between the two students, and Maddy gets hurt.

92. “You don’t have to be sorry. Daddy’s sorry.” – Matt

Maddy apologizes for the scene that she caused at school with the schoolboy. Matt is exceptionally sorry because he missed many of the school’s calls while he was distracted by being with Swan.

93. “We’re not doing anything here because you guys don’t know how to do nothing right. I’ve been here.” – Matt

Matt picks Maddy up from the hospital and tries to check her out without any treatment. He recalls this being the same hospital where Liz gave birth to Maddy and subsequently passed away.

94. “I’m just a little upset because I feel like I should have been there sooner.” – Matt

Matt frets over his mistake of missing the school’s phone calls and not picking Maddy up right away. He begins to blame his relationship with Swan for his recent parenting mishaps.

95. “You can’t blame yourself. It was just an accident.” – Swan

Swan comforts Matt. He didn’t mean to be away from his phone.

96. “Anything could’ve happened to her. She could’ve lost an eye.” – Matt

Matt reminds Swan of the possibilities that he so narrowly avoided. He is being hard on himself about not getting the school’s calls.

97. “The hospital that I was at today, that’s the same hospital that Liz died in.” – Matt

Matt tells Swan the history he has with the hospital he picked Maddy up in. He hopes that this information will help Swan understand his frustration.

98. “How come when something good happens, it always gets taken away?” – Maddy

Matt tells Maddy that his relationship with Swan has ended. Maddy had just come to like Swan.

99. “Should we take a little mommy tour around the neighborhood?” – Marion

While Maddy stays with Marion in Minnesota, Marion offers to walk Maddy around the neighborhood and tell her stories about Liz’s childhood based on the area.

100. “This is gonna be kinda tough because she’s never really been around anybody but me, so there’s probably going to be separation issues.” – Matt

Matt recalls dropping Maddy off at daycare for the first time. Ironically, after this comment of his to the daycare provider, Maddy struts right into the daycare. Matt is the one struggling with the separation.

This film elicits all of the emotions. As a viewer myself, I both laughed and cried. I couldn’t help but applaud Matt for his accomplishments along the way. Every win of Matt’s was the reason for applause from the audience.

Watch Fatherhood on Netflix!

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