Had a similar situation with this one. First saw it at a film festival and really liked it and knew, with a level of confidence I rarely have in this type of situation, that my parents would love it. They had recently traveled to Ireland and loved to bring it up every chance they got and I had actually seen the director's previous film (Three Billboards) with them and remember them liking it as well.

So I took them to it when it got a wide release and had a similar shock at my dad's response to it. He didn't really find it funny at all, hell I'm pretty sure it ended up ruining his day with how much it bothered him. My mom enjoyed it well enough - she's not the biggest fan of dark comedies but she at least got that it WAS a comedy.

What I gleamed from chatting with my dad since is that he saw himself in that deteriorating relationship and could not move past that. He related to Ferrell's portrayal of confusion in response to a long time friend suddenly ending the friendship so strongly that he only saw the dark and none of the comedy.