A-List
Father's Day Movies
By Josh Spiegel
June 19, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Now, the topic's a bit hazy, as you'll soon see; these movies are not specifically about fathers, the good, bad, and ugly ones. Some of the movies are just great picks to watch on Fathers' Day. If you haven't already planned out something with your dad and you're stuck with bringing over a movie from your collection or something from his, any of these movies will make great choices.
Don't worry, though: none of the films on this list are about the most terrible fathers to ever walk the earth. Sure, one of the movies is about how family can be very close, but not for the better, but none of these movies are likely going to leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth. It's also worth noting that some famous movies about bad parents are more about the mothers (need I say the words "wire hangers" to remind you?). If anything else, this means that you're much more likely to find good messages about fathers in the films on this list that deal with them specifically; basically, you'd have to search out movies about bad dads. So, let's get to the list and prepare for the coming holiday!
Big Fish
In some ways, watching this whimsical comedy-drama from 2003 is a revelation. The director of Big Fish is Tim Burton, who brings many of his famous directorial flourishes to the film but manages to make it feel unique. Yes, there's a score by Danny Elfman, Helena Bonham Carter shows up, the production design is opulent yet somewhat gothic; still, the movie feels different. First of all, there is real sentiment and emotion here, something that wasn't so up-front and obvious in a Burton film since Edward Scissorhands. The film, based on a novel by Daniel Wallace, is about a son taking care of his gregarious and frustrating father in his final days. The son (Billy Crudup) has always felt resentment towards his father, a man who loved to tell what must have been tall tales about his life; from how he met the boy's mother to his time in the circus, everything Edward Bloom told his son, William, must be a lie. Right? Of course, the truth of it doesn't matter. Crudup is good as the stubborn son, but Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor, as the older and younger Edward, are great. Both men play the role perfectly, as we see how everyone loves Edward...everyone except Will. The ensemble cast is quite good (Alison Lohman, Jessica Lange, and Danny DeVito all show up), and the film's a feast for the eyes, as is any film from Tim Burton. The ending may cause a few sniffles in the room, but you can chalk it up to dust if it makes you feel better.
Die Hard
Here it is: the quintessential action movie. Yes, the Die Hard series just came up in discussion in last month's A-List about franchises, but the first movie, from 1988, is the only one to put on come Fathers' Day. Oh, all four Die Hard movies are a lot of fun, but the original is the best. Before there were action movies that were Die Hard in a mall, on a plane, and so on, there was the first Die Hard: a movie about an off-duty cop who inadvertently becomes the only hope for hundreds of office workers when a group of European terrorists take everyone hostage. Die Hard made Bruce Willis a bona fide movie star; as John McClane, he typifies the wisecracking, too cool for school action hero. What elevates Die Hard above the competition and the sequels are its great humor, scary villain, and memorable supporting roles. No other Die Hard film can boast the same friendship between John and Al Powell, a chubby LAPD officer who's first to arrive at the Nakatomi Plaza when the terrorists start up their campaign to steal as much money as possible. Willis and Reginald VelJohnson (also known as Carl Winslow on Family Matters) have great chemistry, as do Willis and Alan Rickman, the nefarious Hans Gruber. There are action movies, there are great action movies, and then there's Die Hard. For a quick fix on Fathers' Day, this is the best choice.
Finding Nemo
On this A-List, Finding Nemo may be the only movie to boast a father going truly above and beyond the call of duty. Would your father brave a trio of sharks to find you if you were lost? How about a sea of jellyfish? Okay, sure, this situation probably doesn't occur to most humans and their fathers, but for the clownfish known as Marlin in Finding Nemo, it's all too real. This was the fifth animated feature from Pixar Animation Studios and remains its most successful (though Pixar's latest, Up, is doing well, it'd be quite the surprise to see Finding Nemo lose its top position). The plot is incredibly simple: Marlin, a clownfish who lost his wife and all but one of his children to a barracuda attack, has to search for his remaining son, Nemo, when he's swept up by a diver miles from the shores of Sydney, Australia. Marlin ends up pairing up with Dory, a charming but baffled fish who has short-term memory loss, while Nemo makes some friends in the aquarium of a dentist's office. What makes Finding Nemo work so well is the completely believable dedication Marlin has about finding his son; sure, part of that determination is the inability to lose all his children, but it's admirable, still. Since it's Pixar, the animation is drop-dead gorgeous, there's plenty of humor, and lots of emotional pay-offs. It may not bring on any tears, but Finding Nemo is a great movie to watch if you want to remind your dad how much you appreciate him.
Ghostbusters
By the time Fathers' Day approaches, it'll only be two weeks since the 25th anniversary of the release of Ghostbusters. One of the best comedies ever made, Ghostbusters is about three paranormal scientists who get kicked out of New York University and go into business against the ghostly spirits who haunt the Big Apple. All of this is just an excuse for Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis to riff for two hours, which is just fine by me. Even after all of these years, the film is incredibly quotable. Though I won't bog down this entry for too long, here are just a few classic lines worth laughing over: "Egon, your mucus," "No human would stack books like these," and "Back off, man. I'm a scientist." Did I mention that all of those come within the first 15 minutes of the movie? If you haven't seen Ghostbusters yet...well, my jaw has officially dropped. If you have, this is still a great movie to pop in this coming Sunday. It's guaranteed to provide plenty of laughs for the family.
The Godfather
Like I said, one of these movies is about family. Like I said, this family isn't exactly picture perfect. Sure, they're not poor, they've got enough food on the table, but would you really want to be Don Vito Corleone? How about Sonny, getting your body riddled with bullets next to a toll booth? Don't worry: this movie doesn't really portray dads in a bad light. There's not really a villain, and Don Vito (Marlon Brando, in an iconic if oft-parodied performance) isn't a terrible person. I mean...he doesn't want to deal with drugs! That's...that's good, right? Okay, seriously, this 1972 classic is...well, it's classic. If you've not yet seen this Francis Ford Coppola film, it's definitely worth checking out, even on Fathers' Day. At its core, this film is not only a celebration of America and what makes it great (in terms of how people can rise from rags to riches) but about how important family can be. Al Pacino's Michael Corleone doesn't really want to get involved in the business of the Mafia, but his family is too important to ignore, so he makes a fateful choice. Pacino, Brando, Robert Duvall, and many others make their stamp here in the beginning of an epic trilogy that was continued over the next 18 years. Of course, we'd all like to forget the third film ever happened, but for Fathers' Day, just stick with the one and only original.