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Rewind: From Atticus Finch to Mrs. Doubtfire
This Fathers Day, sit back and enjoy some of film's greatest father figures.
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 13, 2002
[AP photo]
Gregory Peck, who played Atticus Finch, and 9-year-old Mary Badham, as daughter Scout, study their lines during a break in the 1962 filming of To Kill a Mockingbird.
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Maybe it's the male-dominated nature of Hollywood that allows fathers to get off so easily in the movies. Mothers are typically depicted as psychos or unbelievably supportive, while fathers can often get away with anything, even murder, and still have an uplifting resolution at the fade out.
Fathers Day is the best time of the year to bury those hatchets and remind Dad how much you love him with any of these home video recommendations.
Field of Dreams -- A simple game of catch can make all the difference in father-child relationships. Kevin Costner learns that by supernatural means, resurrecting dead major league players on an Iowa farmland baseball diamond. If you rent it, they will cry. Father of the Bride -- Steve Martin's silly remake and sequel are okay, but can't match Spencer Tracy's slow burns as a father paying (and paying and paying) for his daughter's wedding. Young Elizabeth Taylor is a sweet reason to pull out the checkbook.
Father's Little Dividend -- Sequels were big, even 51 years ago. Tracy returns, nearly broke yet wiser, sputtering about the impending birth of Taylor's child.
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Shop: What deserving dads really want ...
Is there a dear old dad anywhere in the United States whose closet does not teem with the ghosts of Father's Days past? That battery-operated tie rack? The monogrammed beer can holder? The scores of golf-themed tchotchkes? Make this the year you honor dad without taking up more of his shelf space.
Books that bind
Share your interests, love -- or differences -- with Dad by reading some well-chosen words.
Get Away: Father's Day deals
Some places offering Father's Day specials. See Get Away calendar for more details.
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Papa's Delicate Condition -- Jackie Gleason plays a hard-drinking showoff who'll rent a circus for his daughter or buy an ice cream parlor to get triple banana splits. Call him irresponsible, as Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen's Oscar-winning song suggested, but this is Gleason's best film performance. Nothing in Common -- Gleason again, this time as an older parent whose wife has had enough. That leaves him to the care of his son, played by a then-promising young actor named Tom Hanks. Director Garry Marshall candy-coats everything about the situation, as usual, but the two lead performances make this a warm time-waster. Dad -- Ted Danson's TV success always seemed to make him struggle at the box office and, in the case of this tearjerker, that's a shame. Danson plays a go-go executive forced to care for his ailing father, played with his usual brilliance by Jack Lemmon. Hard to find, but worth it. Kramer vs. Kramer -- Dustin Hoffman discovers the joys and pain of single parenthood when his wife (Meryl Streep) files for divorce. Robert Benton's movie stacked the cards in Dad's favor, but still shows how caring for a child leads to maturity. Winner of five Academy Awards including Hoffman, Streep, Benton, screenplay and best picture. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- Even swashbuckling daredevils have family issues. Harrison Ford returns for another adventure, this time with his cranky father (Sean Connery) in tow. Dad is dashing enough to have dated one of his son's girlfriends first, and blunt enough to remind "Junior" that the family dog was named Indiana. He Got Game -- Denzel Washington plays a convict who can get a reduced sentence by convincing his talented son (NBA star Ray Allen) to play basketball at the warden's alma mater. Writer-director Spike Lee doesn't skip a single flaw in this conflicted father figure, yet Washington's innate goodness makes him worth redeeming. The final shot (literally) is one of the most emotional moments in recent film history. Life with Father -- William Powell plays a stuffy Wall Street financier at the turn of the 20th century, guiding his family like a business with a nearly silent partner, his wife (Irene Dunne). Smoke Signals -- A rebellious American Indian (Adam Beach, Windtalkers) leaves his reservation to claim the remains of his deceased father, recalling in flashbacks how their relationship was poisoned by booze. By the end of the trip, the young man and the audience have better understandings of reservation culture and the well-intended pain that sometimes accompanies fatherhood. The Courtship of Eddie's Father -- Vincente Minnelli's third movie on this list, after Tracy's double play. Glenn Ford stars as a playboy whose son (check out Ron Howard!) thinks it's time dad settled down. Dated by its views of gender relations, but this comedy and Frank Sinatra's similar A Hole in the Head always give single parents high hopes. Mrs. Doubtfire -- Robin Williams stretches the lengths that divorced fathers will go to be with their children, dressing in drag and posing as a nanny. The flip, funnier side of Kramer vs. Kramer. I Never Sang for My Father -- An early triumph for Gene Hackman, playing a man who has lived at home too long and now wants freedom. His father (Melvyn Douglas) won't let go, especially after Mom dies. Hackman and Douglas earned Oscar nominations. To Kill a Mockingbird -- And finally, the best fatherly portrayal ever in the movies: Gregory Peck's quietly monumental Atticus Finch, a highly principled lawyer and loving father who'll be there in the morning.
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