June 18, 2021
Last month we covered the best movie moms and with Father’s Day upon us, it’s time to discuss the best movie dads. I found it easier to come up with a good list for this week’s post, which may be a good thing for blogging, but is probably a reflection of the lackluster roles available to women over the last few decades, or the need for me to expand my taste in films. Maybe a little bit of both.
Regardless, let’s take a look at what makes a great movie dad. Now, we’re not talking about the best characters who happened to be dads. There are some great ones from the past that weren’t exactly role model characters. Don Corleone? Iconic movie character. Yes, he tried to shield Michael from the family business, but seeing what happened to Sonny at the tollbooth isn’t going to be winning The Godfather any Parent of the Year awards. “Look what they did to my boy!” But as bad as Don Corleone was as a parent (and as a human being, let’s be honest), he certainly wasn’t the best character / worst dad in movie history. Jack Torrance in The Shining? Yeah, chasing your son around a frozen maze while carrying an axe is not going to land you on the family movie highlight reel. And bad fathers are not confined to just our planet. A certain tyrant named Darth Vader would like a word to join the party. Let’s move past the bad ones and look at some great ones, starting with someone who had great intentions, if not all of his brain cells operating effectively.
The Goofy but Lovable Dad – Chevy Chase – National Lampoon’s Vacation
Two words: Family Truckster. Let’s face it. Anytime you saw an obnoxious station wagon on the road after 1985, these words popped into your head. Written by legendary 1980s filmmaker John Hughes, and directed by another 1980s legend, Harold Ramis, Vacation presents the story of the Griswolds, led by Chevy Chase’s dimwitted dad Clark and their effort to take a cross-country vacation to Walley World. After getting stuck with the Family Truckster, they embark on what could only be described as a disastrous trip featuring getting lost in questionable neighborhoods, visits to some questionable relatives, a dead dog, a dead aunt, a supermodel in a Ferrari, and the ultimate disappointment upon arriving at their destination theme park which is closed for renovations. Chase is hysterical in this movie, fully embracing his dopey persona from Saturday Night Live and his other early 1980s roles (Foul Play, Seems Like Old Times, Caddyshack, and Fletch to name a few). He would go on to repeat the role of Clark Griswold over four more movies in this series, but none of them lived up to the original. I finally watched Christmas Vacation recently and to be honest, I didn’t find it all that funny. Maybe my hopes were too high after reading all of the praise for it over the years. But the original is still very good – the premise, the jokes, and Lindsey Buckingham’s Holiday Road for the perfect theme song.
Let’s Go Save the World – Matthew McConaughey – Interstellar
I’m a sucker for Christopher Nolan’s films. I don’t care about the complicated plots, the exposition of characters explaining the plot to the audience, or even the bloated lengths of some of his films. I admire the creativity he brings to his stories, and I don’t care if I don’t fully understand the plot, even after multiple viewings (see my review of Tenet from earlier this year). Interstellar, Nolan’s 2014 tale of a futuristic world threatened by a famine brought on by climate change, features Matthew McConaughey as a former NASA pilot called on to lead a mission out to space to find a more hospitable planet (just go with it). He is torn between doing the right thing to save humanity and leaving behind his family, particularly his daughter Murph, who shares a special bond with him. The science in this one is a little wonky, but the heart of the story is the relationship between father and daughter that translates across millions of miles of space, especially when the laws of physics cause time to move much faster than we normally experience and he realizes he has lost years of his life with his daughter (again, just roll with it – it’s got something to do with physics). Another great performance from McConaughey, along with Mackenzie Foy as the younger Murph.
Life Lessons from South Central L.A. – Laurence Fishburne – Boyz n the Hood
Groundbreaking. There is no other word to describe this movie that was released thirty years ago, written and directed by John Singleton in his filmmaking debut. At the age of 23 (wait a minute, go back and re-read that – he was 23 years old!), Singleton became the youngest filmmaker and the first African-American director nominated for the Best Director Oscar. He was also nominated for Best Screenplay for the film. Boyz n the Hood depicts the life of three close teenaged friends living in the day to day unimaginable hell of South Central Los Angeles. Laurence Fishburne plays Furious Styles, the father to Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr. in a breakout role that would launch his career), desperately trying to keep his son from the life of crime and violence that is inevitable to kids his age. Fishburne does what he can to protect Tre from the dangers of the gangs infesting their neighborhoods, but the situation becomes unbearable when one his best friends, Ricky, is gunned down after an argument in the streets. Fishburne is outstanding in this performance, demonstrating that lessons from fathers to sons can be literally life and death situations.
Life Lessons from History – Sean Connery – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Rarely does a franchise have such an enormous drop-off in quality from the first film to the second, but bounce back to greatness with the third. But, that is exactly what happened with the Indiana Jones franchise. I guess it helps to have Steven Spielberg in charge of the franchise to get films greenlit, and receive forgiveness for movies that don’t work. The success of Raiders of the Lost Ark (released 40 years ago this month, if you can believe it) was massive, leading to a quick sequel – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. While some people still find it a fun adventure, I thought it was terrible – the story shifted away from the fun archeology themes and into one that was confined to a cult-like group of people that Indy must fight to find some mysterious stones. I won’t even go into the terrible stereotypes that have aged very poorly and the ridiculous opening sequence where Indy survives a fall from an airplane in an inflated raft.
But, Spielberg redeemed himself with the third installment, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, through two important decisions. First, he went back to the archeology story with Indy searching for the Holy Grail. Second, and most importantly, he brought on Sean Connery to play Indy’s father, a fellow historical scholar and the only character (and actor) who can go toe to toe with Indy (the character) and Harrison Ford (the actor). They play off of each other very well, whether they are in danger (like when Connery accidentally sets fire to a German safehouse or shoots the tail of their plane), or in reveling in an important discovery (like when Indy reveals that he found the starting city for their journey to the grail – Connery’s joy is like a child finding out he is getting ice cream for dessert). As much as I love Raiders, this entry in the series is almost as good – it’s still tough to beat the original. We won’t talk about the fourth movie, which was rather forgettable. Should we discuss the fifth? You didn’t hear? They just started filming the fifth entry in the franchise, to be directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line, Logan, Ford v. Ferrari) and released next year. Want to have your mind blown? Put aside that Ford turns 80 next year. The fifth entry will be released 41 years after the first movie, which took place in 1936. Which means (if the math stays true), the next film could take place in 1977, the year Star Wars came out. Does Mangold have fun and give us a scene where Indy walks by a line of people waiting outside a theater to get into a Star Wars screening and make a snide comment about the movie or about Han Solo? We can only hope.
Just a Dad in Search of Magic – Tom Hanks – Sleepless in Seattle
Romantic comedies are not easy to pull off. You’ve got to have a story that we haven’t seen a million times before, some solid comedic moments, strong supporting characters – either in the form of the lead characters’ best friends or, even better, cute kids – a nice winning soundtrack, and most importantly – megawatt superstars at the height of their likability and talents. If any of those goes horribly wrong, you have a lukewarm Netflix movie that you quickly forget about after watching. But we got all of those ingredients with Sleepless in Seattle, the movie that somehow makes a winning comedy despite the lead characters not meeting until (literally) the end of the film. Tom Hanks plays a widower who moves his son out to Seattle for a fresh start and suddenly attracts the attention of single women across the country after his son calls into a radio advice show. Meg Ryan plays a newly engaged woman who hears the phone call and starts having doubts about her own future, wondering if there is some magic with the mysterious caller dubbed “Sleepless in Seattle.” Hanks plays America’s Dad, reluctantly dipping his toe into the dating pool again (encouraged by his friend played by Rob Reiner). When his son Jonah desperately wants him to write back to Ryan’s character, he takes it upon himself to set up a meeting in New York City on Valentine’s Day. The love and caring Hanks feels for his son is felt throughout the film, especially when he finds him at the top of the Empire State Building. This movie is a masterful display of the sweet, old fashioned romantic comedy, even referencing An Affair to Remember, the 1957 tearjerker, a number of times. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one more key ingredient to a successful romantic comedy – the master of the genre writing the script. That would be Nora Ephron, who also wrote the screenplays for When Harry Met Sally…, You’ve Got Mail (which reunited Hanks and Ryan five years later), as well as the delightful Julie and Julia with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Sleepless in Seattle is a perfect example of what happens when every element of the movie comes together and works to the best of its potential.
Hail to the Chief Dad – Michael Douglas – The American President
It’s pretty strange to watch this 1995 comedy now and not look at it through a much different lens than when it was first released, for two reasons. The first is the obvious – this was the seed for what would turn into The West Wing, created by Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the script for The American President. It’s even a little jarring seeing Martin Sheen as the chief of staff to Michael Douglas’s president Andrew Shepherd, and not the top dog as President Bartlet. The second reason is that with the increased visibility of cable news, the internet, and (unfortunately) social media, there is no longer any mystique around the President. Not to mention the debacle of the last four years. No, really, I’m literally NOT GOING TO MENTION IT. OK, moving right along.
Douglas is perfect in the role of a widower commander in chief who finds time to help his daughter with her homework while trying to get a crime bill passed, deal with an international crisis, and fall in love. It’s the latter storyline that encompasses most of the plot, as Shepherd’s relationship with a lobbyist (played by Annette Bening) causes all sorts of political problems, especially from his chief rival, played in a delicious villainous turn by Richard Dreyfuss. It’s funny that a lot of the inner White House shenanigans feel a little lackluster (except Michael J. Fox as the President’s policy expert – a role that would lead to Fox’s successful run as the deputy mayor in the television series Spin City) because we saw it executed flawlessly in The West Wing a few years later. Or maybe it was because Sorkin has said that he wrote this screenplay while battling a serious cocaine addiction. Ok, let’s move along. The romantic comedy aspect of The American President works very well, especially with Shepherd being protective of his daughter’s feelings about him dating again. Yes, there are some schmaltzy parts, but as a charming romantic movie? Yeah, it still works.
The Consummate Dad – Steve Martin – Parenthood and Father of the Bride
Two films that have very different aspects to them – one inspired an excellent comedy-drama network television series, the other was a remake of a forty year-old film starring a Hollywood legend. But there’s one thing both of them have in common – the comedic genius of Steve Martin. Parenthood is an ensemble movie, directed by Ron Howard, about a group of siblings and their sprawling families, and the problems that they all face – some silly, some serious. But at the heart of the movie is Gil (Martin’s character) and his wife Karen, played by Mary Steenburgen. Gil is facing the midlife crisis we’ve seen before – an asshole boss demanding more from him at work, a stressful family life, coaching his son’s baseball team, and the existential questions of “What am I doing with my life? Have I made the right decisions in life? Am I a good husband and father?” Throughout the film, Martin’s comedic talents are on full display, like when he steps in as the entertainment for his son’s birthday party, when he laments the stress of coaching little league, or has a “not so great” reaction when finding out his wife is pregnant with their fourth child. He eventually comes to realize what we all do when faced with these existential questions in life – at the end of the day, the most important thing in life is family and the rest of the bullshit just doesn’t matter.
Martin has his act together in a much different way in Father of the Bride, the remake of the 1950 classic starring Spencer Tracy. Wait a minute…..I just remembered the scene in the grocery store where Martin rants at a clerk about the conspiracy among the hot dog makers (8 to a pack) and hot dog bun makers (12 to a pack) to get us to buy more of their products. Any time you can work the concept of least common multiple into a movie, you’ve got comedic gold to a math nerd like me. In Father of the Bride, Martin plays the owner of a sneaker company who is shell-shocked when his 22 year-old daughter returns from a trip to Europe and informs her parents that she met the love of her life and is engaged to be married. What ensues is the planning of the big day, and all of the decisions, crises, and hysterical moments throughout the process. Martin and Diane Keaton shine as the loving parents to their daughter Annie, played by Kimberly Williams in her film debut. While complaining about the cost of the event and trying to keep it a simple affair, Martin is lamenting not just the loss of his money – it’s the loss of his daughter, which he struggles with throughout the film. While Martin Short is hysterical in one of the all-time great supporting performances as the wedding planner Franck (once you see the movie, you can only pronounce his name one way), Steve Martin is the star here, perfectly representing the legacy of the great Spencer Tracy, who was just as charming in the original.
That’s all for this week. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there – I hope you enjoyed a look at some of my favorite movie dads. I will be taking next week off, but will be back in two weeks. Thanks for reading and if you’d like to be notified of future posts, you can subscribe here.
Steve some great movies in this week’s blog! I’ll have to see if I can find some of them steaming. I do have An American President and watched that one about a month ago.