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It used to be that when you called a movie a glorified sitcom, it was an insult. But when you watch “Fatherhood,” an unabashedly formulaic, undeniably sweet Netflix dramedy in which Kevin Hart offers up a benign variation on his trademark irascibility in the role of a devoted but desperate single dad, it’s easy to imagine the sitcom version as richer, deeper, more layered. That said, on its own terms the movie accomplishes what it sets out to do. and market-tested beat falling into place.

Directed and co-written by Paul Weitz, adapting Matthew Longelin’s 2011 memoir, “Fatherhood” is grounded in its opening tragedy. Matt (Hart), a Boston tech engineer, and his wife, Liz (Deborah Ayorinde), are about to have their first child. In the hospital, Liz gives birth to a beautiful girl named Maddy…and then dies, suddenly, of a pulmonary embolism.

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Just about the only irony to be found in Paul Weitz’s earnest and tender “Fatherhood” is that its story, about a single father’s extraordinary efforts to overcome his immaturity and selfishness to raise an infant after his wife’s death, plays so effortlessly on screen.

“Fatherhood” may offer pleasing platitudes and uncomplicated life lessons about trying hard, being present, and the healing power of love, but at least the film eschews cloying contrivances on its journey to big smiles and feel-good hugs.

Father-to-be Matt (Kevin Hart) is a well-intentioned and affable man whose tenuous grasp on responsibility doesn’t quite extend far enough to build the crib in time for the birth of his daughter, Maddy. When Matt’s wife, Liz, unexpectedly dies of a pulmonary embolism barely a day after giving birth, Matt has to quickly and simultaneously navigate the exhausting paths of grieving husband and single parent.