Jason Fraley, WTOP Film Critic
Father's Day weekend is upon us, and what better way to enjoy it than sitting down for a nice lazy day movie with Dad.
WTOP is counting down the Most Memorable Movie Dads in Hollywood History.
Some refuse to stand up for their kids, like James Dean's father in "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955). Others intimidate their sons, like Robert Duvall in "The Great Santini" (1979), or scare them with mashed-potato mountains, like Richard Dreyfuss in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977).
If you say Vince Vaughn in "Old School" (2003), I'm laughing my "earmuffs" off. If you say Noah Cross in "Chinatown" (1974) or Satan in "Rosemary's Baby" (1968), you're just sick.
Here's my list of the dads who take care of business, go the extra mile, teach valuable lessons and will do anything for their kids, from dressing as a woman to taking long vacations on the holiday road.
Fatherly Advice: "If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."
Sure the film was a "health care" remake of "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975). But few fathers have gone to such lengths for their sons as Denzel Washington's John Q, holding a hospital hostage while demanding a heart transplant for his son.
Fatherly Advice: "I am not going to bury my son! My son is going to bury me!"
Fatherly Advice: "Figaro, you know what I wish? I wish that my little Pinocchio might be a real boy."
Jim's dad took the awkwardness of the "birds and the bees" and made a hilarious character. Discussing everything from masturbation to using protection, Jim would have loved for his pops to shut his "pie" hole, but we couldn't stop laughing.
Fatherly Advice: "Well, they're safer than a tube sock."(On condoms)
On condoms
We all remember Chief Brody's race across the beach when he realizes the shark is headed straight for his son, Michael, in the Amity pond. But his best fatherly scene comes as he downs wine at the dinner table, feeling guilty over the death of a young swimmer, when he spots his son mimicking his every move. As father and son fold hands, it's a powerful little moment in a major blockbuster film.
Fatherly Advice: "Come here. Give Daddy a kiss."(On condoms)
How far would you swim to find your son? Albert Brooks' papa fish swam to the far ends of the ocean in search of his lost kid, Nemo.
Fatherly Advice: "I have to get out of here! I have to find my son! I have to tell him how old sea turtles are!"
Holding together a dysfunctional family is perhaps the hardest job of any dad. Greg Kinnear held together a tired wife, drug- addicted father, suicidal brother-in-law, speechless stepson and dreamer daughter on a cross-country trip in a push-start, constantly- beeping VW van.
Fatherly Advice: "There's two kinds of people in this world, there's winners and there's losers. OK, you know what the difference is? Winners don't give up."
He's not the type of dad you'd like to have, with rose-petal dreams of romancing your teenage best friend. On the surface, Lester Burnham is a creep. Looking closer, he's a study of a suburban mid-life crisis, a dad who wants to understand his daughter and smiles fondly at a family photo with his final breath.
Fatherly Advice: "Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go (screw) himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost $60,000. Pass the asparagus."
The patriarch of Manhattan's most eccentric family, Royal Tenenbaum didn't know how to love his wife or raise three child prodigies. So, he pretended to have cancer in order to win them back.
Fatherly Advice: "Anybody interested in grabbing a couple of burgers and hittin' the cemetery?"
Few remember the name Mac MacGuff, but J.K. Simmons carved a place in our hearts by grappling with one of the toughest scenarios for any parent: teen pregnancy. Judging by his hilarious quips, we can see where Juno gets her spunk.
Fatherly Advice: "I'm gonna punch that Bleeker kid in the wiener next time I see him."
The teenage pregnancy of "Juno" pales in comparison to what Calvin Jarrett had to deal with in "Ordinary People." At the outset of the movie, he has lost his favorite son to a boating accident and must deal with the anger of his wife (Mary Tyler Moore) and grief of his son (Timothy Hutton). The film's final clutch between father and son is classic family drama.
Fatherly Advice: "He just wants to know that you don't hate him."
From "The In-Laws" (1979) to "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967), Hollywood has mined gold out of the awkwardness of "meeting the parents." Most memorable is Robert DeNiro's Jack Byrnes as the father every boyfriend fears, an ex-CIA operative who reads poetry to his mother's urn, showers his cat with gifts and will do anything for his daughter "Pamcakes."
Fatherly Advice: "I have nipples, Greg, could you milk me?"
Long before Steve Martin helped Kimberly Williams get ready for her wedding (practicing for Brad Paisley), Spencer Tracy helped Elizabeth Taylor get ready for her big day (practicing for Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton and five others). No matter which version is your favorite, these two "fathers of the bride" are must-see romantic family comedies.
Fatherly Advice: "Who presents this woman? This woman? But she's not a woman. She's just a kid. And she's leaving us."
Few father-son combos have depicted undying devotion like Will Smith and real-life son Jaden in this true story of Wall Street rags to riches. Homeless, embracing his son and crying on a public bathroom floor, Smith breaks our hearts as a down-on-his-luck man just wanting better for his child.
Fatherly Advice: "You got a dream. You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period."
Christopher Plummer's Capt. Von Trapp had the most daunting task of any dad on this list: find a new governess for his seven singing children, then sneak them out of Nazi-occupied Austria.
Fatherly Advice: "Oh, there's nothing wrong with the children. Only the governesses."
It's hard to imagine a father going to greater lengths than dressing up as an old British nanny just to be near his kids after a nasty divorce. The gimmick was hilarious, as Robin Williams danced to "Dude Looks Like a Lady" and brought some of the best performances from Sally Field and Pierce Brosnan.
Fatherly Advice: "I just want to know one thing. Are your kids well-behaved? Or do they need like, a few light slams every now and then?"
Dustin Hoffman could relate to Robin Williams in the "crossdressing" gimmick, as he had done it in "Tootsie" (1982). But he could also relate to the divorce themes, playing a father in an intense custody battle with ex-wife Meryl Streep. Who can forget him burning the food the first time he makes breakfast, or the joy in his face as he teaches his son how to ride a bike?
Fatherly Advice: "How much courage does it take to walk out on your kid?"
George Clooney delivered arguably the performance of his career as a father learning of his comatose wife's affair. Embarking on a Hawaiian quest to find his wife's lover, he gradually wins the love of his two daughters and becomes a better man in the process.
Fatherly Advice: "I don't want my daughters growing up entitled and spoiled. And I agree with my father: you give your children enough money to do something, but not enough to do nothing."
Winning the leg lamp. Fixing the furnace. Changing the flat. Battling the Bumpus dogs. And weaving a tapestry of obscenity that's still hanging over Lake Michigan. Ralphie's father put fear in his kids ("Daddy's gonna kill Ralphie"), while protecting their dignity ("He looks like a pink nightmare").
Fatherly Advice: "'Fra-gi-le.' Must be Italian."
George Bailey put everyone - literally everyone in town - ahead of himself. So when "George lassoed stork," his ticket out of Bedford Falls was officially canceled. While the weight of small-town life brought him to the end of his rope, he saw the light and rushed home to embrace his kids lovingly on that staircase. Who can forget little Zuzu telling daddy what happens every time a bell rings?
Fatherly Advice: "Zuzu's petals. Zuzu's...there they are!"
He failed with Scotty, but Dr. Evil sought a second chance by cloning himself as Mini-Me. Together, the two sang "Just the Two of Us" as they tried to take over the world. The mastermind doesn't need much for a Father's Day gift. All he asks for are "sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads."
Fatherly Advice: "Scotty, don't!"
Arguably the greatest animated movie dad, Mufasa took a rambunctious Simba and tried teaching him the meaning of the "circle of life." His death at the hand of a stampede, orchestrated by brother Scar, had audiences - young and old - sobbing in the theaters. His ghostly return put an end to "Hakuna Matata" and inspired Simba to regain his rightful place as king.
Fatherly Advice: "A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king."
Who else could play Indiana Jones' father but James Bond? Henry Jones Sr. left his life's work to his son in a Grail Diary, adding new depth to one of cinema's greatest action/adventure heroes. The father-son subplot resurrected the "Raiders" franchise after the bizarre "Temple of Doom" (1984).
Fatherly Advice: "Junior, I have to tell you something. The floor's on fire, see. And the chair!"
Every kid would be lucky to have a father like Furious Styles, ever wise and thinking deeply while clanking those metal balls. Furious taught Cuba Gooding Jr. everything from fishing to gentrification, and was a calm force amidst the storm of gun violence in south central Los Angeles.
Fatherly Advice: "Any fool with a can make a baby. But only a real man can raise his children."(penis)
penis
We remember the DeLorean, the flux capacitor, the 1.21 gigawats. How easy it is to forget that "Back to the Future" is mostly about fatherhood, as 1985 teen Marty McFly must return to his father's youth in 1955 and get him to fall in love with his mother, or else be erased from existence.
Fatherly Advice: "Last night, Darth Vader came down from Planet Vulcan and told me that if I didn't take Lorraine out, that he'd melt my brain."
In one of the greatest twists in movie history, Darth Vader revealed Luke Skywalker's Anakin roots. Contrary to popular belief, Vader never actually said, "Luke, I am your father," but the revelation was so secret that no one on set was told about it, not even David Prowse, who wore Vader's costume. It was not until James Earl Jones was recording the voiceover that he did a double-take.
Fatherly Advice: "No, I am your father."
While James Earl Jones dropped the daddy bombshell in "Star Wars," he led Kevin Costner to mend his bruised relationship with his dead father in "Field of Dreams." The film's famous line, "If you build it he will come," does not refer to Shoeless Joe Jackson, but rather John Kinsella. The result still has the power to reduce grown men to tears: "Hey, Dad? Wanna have a catch?"
Fatherly Advice: " is the place dreams come true."(Heaven)
Heaven
No father is as dedicated to his family's happiness and as demented in achieving it as Clark W. Griswold. Loading up the family station wagon and setting off on the "holiday road," Clark dragged a dog, killed an aunt and chased Christie Brinkley's sports car - all on a mission to Wally World. His Christmas "staycation" was just as priceless.
Fatherly Advice: "Everybody in the car. Boat leaves in two minutes. Or, perhaps you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away."
As Marlon Brando said in Mario Puzo's script for "Superman" (1978): "The father becomes the son, and the son the father." Movies don't get more tragic than watching Don Vito Corleone try his best to keep his son from a life of crime, and then watching Michael Corleone follow right in his father's footsteps, only much more perversely. The genius of "Part II" is watching the two men's lives unfold simultaneously, charting similar paths in very different times.
Fatherly Advice: "A man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."
The AFI's No. 1 Movie Hero is also my pick for the No. 1 Movie Dad. Scout and Jem Finch had a moral mountain of a man as a father. Atticus taught them never to judge a book by its cover, whether it's the falsely accused black man Tom Robinson, or the misunderstood hermit Boo Radley. Atticus led by example, even when it was against popular opinion. He was a father figure to us all, teaching us why it's a sin "to kill a mockingbird."
Fatherly Advice: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
WASHINGTON – WTOP is counting down the Most Memorable Movie Dads in Hollywood History. See whether you agree with WTOP Film Critic Jason Fraley’s list of the dads who take care of business, go the extra mile, teach valuable lessons and will do anything for their kids.
Read more from WTOP Film Critic Jason Fraley by clicking “Fraley on Film” under the “Living” tab above, following @JasonFraleyWTOP on Twitter, and checking out his blog, The Film Spectrum.
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