‘SPOILER ALERT’

The film opens with Matthew Logelin speaking at a funeral for his wife Liz His best friends

Jordan and Oscar try to help as does Matt’s mother

On top of all this

Matt is now a single father

to his and Liz’s infant daughter Maddy

and almost nobody including Matt himself

believes he is ready to take on those responsibilities all alone

A flashback shows Matt and Liz being told by the doctor that they are going to get their baby out

sooner than expected via C-section

The procedure is a success

and Maddy is born a healthy baby girl

Liz’s parents Marion and Mike come to see their granddaughter

Later on, when Matt tries to help a nurse take Liz to another room

Liz begins to have trouble breathing

and starts to lose consciousness

Doctors rush in and send Matt out

but when he sees them again

the doctors say that Liz suffered a pulmonary embolism

and has passed away

Anna and Marion stay with Matt

to help take care of Maddy for the time being

Both of them think that Matt should move back to Minnesota

to be closer to Marion and Mike

so he can get a job and raise Maddy there

but Matt doesn’t feel that he can uproot his life so easily

He works with Oscar at an ad agency

and their boss encourages Matt to take time off

even though Matt opts to try working from home

The first few months caring for Maddy are rough on Matt

with her excessive crying

constant pooping

and uncertainty with how to work strollers

and build cribs

He resorts to bringing Maddy to work

since he can’t find a babysitter

and both Anna and Liz’s parents have gone back home

When Maddy won’t stop crying

Matt tries a number of remedies

like rocking her to sleep

singing a lullaby

or feeding her

but none of them work

After attending a support group for new parents

he finds that playing white noise helps her stop and go to sleep

Later,

Matt brings Maddy to work during a meeting with important clients

When he hears Maddy crying

Matt rushes out of the meeting

to try and stop her

However, the clients are more than understanding

and offer Matt tips like downloading a white noise app

and utilizing skin-to-skin contact to keep Maddy soothed

Matt hires a babysitter for the night

so he and Jordan go out to the club

When Jordan tries to bring Matt’s attention to some women there

Matt gets upset since he is still not over Liz

he takes Maddy to Minnesota

to spend time with her grandparents

They go to Liz’s parents’ home

where they have set Liz’s old room up for Maddy in case she comes

Matt later visits Anna

and expresses his desire to be as great a parent as she was

and she assures him that he is

Years pass

and Maddy is about 4 or 5 years old

Matt has enrolled her at a private school

but they go against the dress code

and have her wear pants

instead of skirts

like the other girls

She also frequently joins her dad

when Jordan and Oscar come over to play poker

Matt takes Maddy to the park for a birthday party

There he meets a woman named Lizzie

who is there because Oscar and his wife Rose

they want to set Matt up with her

When they realize what is going on

they just play along with it

and engage in natural conversation

She tells him that she is an animator for a show

called Lucky Jim

which Matt says Maddy is a fan of

Turns out he was unaware that Lucky Jim is NOT a kids program

as it is about a perverted leprechaun named Jim who always gets lucky

When Matt sees an episode, he declares Maddy can’t watch it anymore

Maddy is teased at school by the boys

for wearing pants

which gets to the point

where the school’s head nun has to tell Matt about the dress code

When going to buy new clothes for Maddy

she tells him she wants Batman boys underwear

instead of ones for girls

Matt later agrees to go out with Lizzie

and They have a good time together

They eventually start dating consistently

until Matt decides it might be time for Maddy to meet Lizzie

especially since Maddy has felt a bit upset

over not having a female figure in her life

After a day at the carnival

Matt introduces Maddy to Lizzie

Soon, Maddy takes a liking to Lizzie

The next day

Matt drops Maddy off at school

At school, the boys tease Maddy again when she starts to wear a skirt

When she tries to jump off and tackle one of the boys

she hits her head and gets a nasty gash on her forehead

The school tries to reach Matt

but he eventually checks his phone

and rushes to the hospital

He tries to take Maddy away

but the doctors say that she needs stitches

Matt tries to decline since it’s the same hospital where Liz died in

and he doesn’t trust the doctors there

but he relents and lets them work

Feeling bad over neglecting Maddy

Matt breaks things off with Lizzie

At work, The boss tells Matt that he wants to send him to Croatia for a job

He prepares to take Maddy to Minnesota

to spend time with her grandparents

but she starts to get mad at him for breaking up with Lizzie

When Maddy gets to Marion and Mike’s home

she asks Marion what her mom was like

Marion says that she was strong and smart

just like Maddy

later, Matt sees that Marion wants Maddy to stay with them more long-term

which Maddy seems more open

but Matt thinks that Marion is just reminding him

that 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 realizes he isn’t keeping 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 recommended Matt for his old job

Matt is thankful

even though this means he might be seeing Maddy even less

Even Jordan and Oscar

they can see that her absence is making Matt feel worse

While going through her room

he finds a necklace from Liz

that Maddy had been desperately searching for earlier

When Matt and Oscar head to Croatia for the job

Matt thinks about Maddy too much

and decides to bail on the trip to return to her

She hugs her dad and he gives her the necklace

Matt and Maddy then to go Lizzie’s house

where he apologizes to her for how things turned out

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

Fatherhood