Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Brother Decker’s film site www.moviedad.com. Used here with permission.
Happy Father’s Day! Looking for a movie to celebrate with? Scroll on down for my suggestions. Note that some relevant films like Back to the Future and The Incredibles are already on my list of Movies For Mother’s Day. So make some wings and pizza, settle down on the couch with dad, and enjoy these touching tales of father-children relationships this week. Note that some of the films are rated PG-13, so do your research if you have questions about content. Click on the titles to rent or buy them from Amazon Instant Video. Enjoy!
Tim Burton’s touching fantasy drama finds a young man trying to reconcile with his cancer-stricken, tall-tale-telling father. Moving, imaginative, and visually stunning.
This inspiring Christian drama finds policemen committing to being fathers according to the Gospel. A wonderful film.
https://youtu.be/zyZGlW7_s9E?t=34
Steve Carrell’s most grounded and charming performance as a widowed father who inadvertently falls for his brother’s girlfriend at a family reunion. This is a sweet little movie.
Steve Carrell again, this time as a supervillain with a hidden soft-side when he adopts three orphans as part of a plot, only to have his heart softened. This surprise hit is loaded with silly madcap humor.
This wholesome family comedy is especially great to watch with daughters. Ditto the sequel.
This is an all-American Father’s Day movie. Ultimately, it’s as much about faith and family as it is about baseball. The finale packs a real emotional wallop. Universally accepted as a movie it’s socially acceptable to for guys to cry over. Worth a revisit. Though I’ve always thought Kevin Costner is a better director than an actor, he’s in rare form here, giving an undeniably likable and moving performance.
A father braves sharks, stingrays, bombs, and the depths of the ocean to find his lost son. Laughs and stunning visuals all along the way.
If you’ve not seen this…it’s terrific. I love this movie. Just watch the trailer. How can you not be intrigued?
INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE
Screen legends Harrison Ford and Sean Connery are the perfect bickering father-son in this, the funniest and most touching of the Indiana Jones films (and the true finale to the series; Crystal Skull, as my friend says, isn’t canon). Plus, there’s boat chases, motorcycle escapes, dogfights in the sky, and a fistfight with Nazis on top of a tank! What’s not to love?
“Mufasa! Oooo…say it again!”
Between his Kryptonian birth father (Russell Crowe) and his earthly adoptive father (Kevin Costner), Clark Kent/Superman is shaped into a hero through paternal guidance.
MIDWAY TO HEAVEN (AKA HEAVEN IS WAITING)
Humorous and heartfelt romantic dramedy, with a sweet father-daughter relationship. A widower re-enters the dating scene while coping with his daughter’s engagement.
ONE GOOD MAN
Christian Viussna’s realistic and charmingly sentimental look at the life of a man who struggles to balance being a father, husband, businessman, and Latter-day Saint bishop is a great snapshot of Mormon culture and beliefs, in addition to being a solid film for Father’s Day.
This finale is the most emotionally satisfying film in George Lucas’ Star Wars saga, as Luke puts his life on the line to redeem his wayward father and bring him back to the “good side.”
https://youtu.be/MEsYJFmuL_4?t=23
Rocky won Best Picture in 1976. Rocky II was equally heartfelt. After that, the sequels traded soul for machismo (still fun) and bottomed out with the truly awful Rocky V. Sixteen years later, Stallone redeems the franchise and himself with this fantastic final chapter. Rocky Balboa captures the character-driven spirit of the first two films and has powerful insights into aging, loss, and family as Rocky and his son cope with the loss of their wife and mother Adrian to cancer (which, despite the ad campaigns, is really what the film is about). This film is beautiful and uplifting.
THE TESTAMENTS OF ONE FOLD AND ONE SHEPHERD
Powerful Latter-day Saint film depicts, at its core, a strained father-son relationship that is healed through shared faith in Jesus Christ.
Did I miss any of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below!
Jonathan Decker is a licensed marriage and family therapist available for face-to-face and online webcam sessions. He’s also a film critic at Movie Dad. Jonathan hosts a segment on classic and overlooked films for The KJZZ Movie Show (watch here or Sundays at 10:00 pm on KJZZ-TV in Utah). His book, 250 Great Movies for Latter-day Families, is available in paperback and Kindle.
Andrea AndersonJune 19, 2015
We just watched Father of The Bride last night and I was horrified. I noticed two comments I had never heard before that made the teenagers who were watching the show very uncomfortable. When the daughter and fiancé are leaving the house the Dad tells them "drive safely and don't forget to fasten the condom" and then the parents go upstairs and the mom says "do you want me to name all the rooms in my parents house we did it in" It may be a funny movie but the Dads made to look like a cheap skate when he balks at spending 125,000 on a wedding. He then gives in and is the scape goat the rest of the movie, made fun of by the wedding coordinator and his wife and daughter never side with him or take his advice. We have seen this movie many times and just now it's dawning on how the few bad things are ignored in our pursuit of entertainment. It's like the Mormon ad with the ice cream that has cockroaches, "Its great except for the bad parts"