The 30 Best Fictional Fathers in Film History
Father’s Day is approaching again, which means you’re probably seeing ads for all types of gifts dad might like: silly golf balls; knives that open to reveal other knives; ties decorated with images of hot dogs and soccer balls. Maybe you know a father who loves it all. Maybe your father loves it all. But fathers and paternal figures come in many varieties, and sometimes their interests extend beyond bourbon and barbecue.
Movies don’t always serve the cause of dad diversity by showing the same outdated stereotypes over and over again. But there are also some truly impressive portrayals of fathers: touching, funny, caring, sometimes a little confused, but doing the best they can with what they have to work with. That’s all you can ask from any parent.
Whether you’re looking for something to do with your dad this weekend or just want to spend time with the fantastic dad you never had, pour some booze, barbecue some meat, and watch a movie starring one of the great movie dads. .
Furious Styles in Boyz n the Hood (1991)
In one of the most iconic father roles in film history, Laurence Fishburne guides his son Tre through life and adolescence in South Central Los Angeles in the late ’80s and early ’90s in the directorial debut of director John Singleton. Fast and Furious isn’t always the nicest father (not even a little), but his tough love and hard-earned wisdom help keep his son safe from the worst of drug, gang, and police violence, even when his less fortunate friends fall short. victim. Singleton based the film on his life and Fast and the Furious on his father, which, along with Fishburne’s performance, helps explain why this particular father resonates, even 30 years later.
Where to watch: Tubi, digital rental.
Jack Spear in the film Simon in Love (2018)
Jack, played by Josh Duhamel, is already a pretty good father, although he spends most of “Love” Simon being completely unaware that his son is gay, making jokes that he thinks are harmless, and teasing Simon about hot girls and girlfriends. When Simon is revealed to the entire school at once, Jack doesn’t know how to react at first, but ends up doing the right thing (he even promises to sign up for Grindr without fully understanding the concept). Many honest stories turn out to be heartbreaks, but a good father helps ensure a happy ending to the story.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Bryan Mills in Taken (2008)
He is a man with a very specific skill set. Skills that, okay, don’t really have anything to do with parenting. Unless you’ve been kidnapped by an Albanian human trafficking gang, in which case these skills (mostly Green Beret and CIA stuff) are pretty much exactly what you want from your father. Over the course of three films in the Taken series, Brian never becomes a great father, but he does absolutely everything in his power to prevent multiple kidnappings involving his sometimes estranged family, which should be worth at least some enjoyable viewing. Father’s Day card.
Where to watch: digital rental.
George Kirk in Star Trek (2009)
Captain Kirk’s father made the list without spending a single moment with his child—at least in the alternate timeline of the Star Trek films created by JJ Abrams. When a Romulan ship from the future threatens the Federation starship Kelvin, First Officer George Kirk does the only thing he can: he personally crashes the Kelvin into the invasion ship to buy time for his crew to escape in rescue shuttles (the autopilot is tragically, but, unsurprisingly disabled). Among this team is his wife Winona, who is currently in premature labor. The father (played by none other than Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth) not only sacrifices his life for the sake of his newborn son, but also passes on some truly impressive genes to the child who eventually grows up to be Chris Pine. Beyond that, we later learn that his father’s early death led to a much rougher start for James T. in the alternate universe of this set of films.
Where to watch: Paramount+ , digital rental.
John Quincy Archibald in John Q (2002)
John and Denise Archibald (Denzel Washington and Kimberly Elise) find themselves in a dire but not impossible situation: despite having insurance, the couple learns that they do not have enough insurance coverage to pay for a life-saving heart transplant. their son. Essentially, without the $75,000 co-payment, the hospital would not put Mike on the donor list. In desperation, Washington’s hero takes a cardiologist and several hospital employees hostage in exchange for treatment. It’s all pretty brutal and his plan isn’t particularly good, but Washington is as convincing as always as a father who will do anything to save his son.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Hal Fields in Beginners (2010)
Better late than never. This is the message of Beginners , in which Hal, played by Christopher Plummer (at the start of his late-career renaissance), comes out to his son Oliver (Ewan McGregor). As Hal begins to live more openly and finds love with a younger man, he also develops a more honest relationship with Oliver. As a result, they become closer than ever before, and their relationship inspires Oliver to start a new romance and generally live life on his own terms. This is a film about how sometimes being true to yourself is the best way to be a good parent.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Juan in Moonlight (2016)
Mahershala Ali won an Oscar for his role as Juan, the surrogate father of the film’s protagonist Chiron (played by Alex R. Hibbert in the film’s early scenes). A drug dealer who sells crack to Chiron’s mother, Juan is hardly an ideal role model. But he is by far the best Chiron has, and there is real tenderness between them after Juan finds Chiron hiding in a stash house. Juan teaches Chiron lessons that will benefit him throughout his life, and perhaps most importantly, that there is nothing wrong with being gay.
Where to watch: Max , digital rental
David Drayton in The Mist (2007)
Stephen King stories often deal with imperfect fatherhood, but this adaptation (from Frank Darabont, also director of The Shawshank Redemption ) features one of his best fathers: David Drayton (Thomas Jane), an artist who finds himself trapped in a supermarket. , serving as a refuge for a disparate group of people from the Lovecraftian nightmares that lurk outside. As the situation becomes more extreme, David more or less holds it together, protecting his son while his former friends and neighbors turn on each other and/or succumb to religious mania. The ultimate gut punch in the final act certainly complicates David’s legacy as a parent, but it also makes clear the extremes he is willing to go to to do what he believes is best for his child.
Where to watch: Freevee, Prime Video
Troy in Cowboys (2020)
Like many of the fathers here, Steve Zahn’s Troy isn’t perfect, but his mistakes serve to protect his transgender son Joe (who is actually played by trans actor Sasha Knight, which shouldn’t be a new casting thing, but here we are) . ). Before an extended flashback, the film begins with Joe and Troy traveling through the Montana wilderness. Joe’s parents separated due to his trans identity; Sally’s mom refused to support the child, but Sally still got custody after Troy attacked a relative for insulting Joe. There’s a lot of family drama here, but Joe’s transition is handled sensitively, as is Troy’s diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Marlin in Finding Nemo (2003)
The clue is in the film’s title: it’s about Marlin (Albert Brooks), a clownfish who, in the best tradition of children’s animated films, loses almost his entire family to a barracuda attack during his opening act. He vows to protect the only surviving egg at all costs, which hatches into an adorable fish named Nemo, becoming overprotective in the process. This fierce love drives him to embark on a dangerous journey across the vast ocean to find and save his son after losing Nemo.
Where to watch: Disney+ , digital rental.
Mr. Perlman in Call Me by Your Name (2017)
The ultimate cool, nerdy dad, Michael Stuhlbarg’s character in this adaptation of Andre Aciman’s novel is a professor who hosts intellectuals at seemingly endless dinners while visiting the Northern Italian countryside with his family, including son Elio (Timothée Chalamet). When Elio develops feelings for graduate student Oliver, who came to Armie Hammer, his father doesn’t even blink an eye. These dinners can be exhausting, but it’s a small price to pay for seeing the father’s gentle and encouraging nature: he supports Elio while encouraging him to find his own path and never passing judgment.
Where to watch: Prime Video
Jim’s Dad in American Pie (1999)
Through four films (and four spin-offs), Jim’s unnamed father (Eugene Levy) has been the charming, clueless heart of the American Pie series. We expect milky Levi to shy away from any discussion about sex, but the extremely helpful dad is always willing to dive right into the nasty: buying (and trying to explain) porn for a son who’s already gotten the idea; don’t worry too much about the distribution of the title pie; etc. The original joke is that a supportive and open dad can create incredibly unpleasant moments. Over time, however, it becomes clear that Jim’s father is a pretty solid parent and surprisingly positive about sex, even when things get a little awkward.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Based on a true story and starring Will Smith and his son Jaden, the film follows the ups and harrowing lows of Chris Gardner’s life as he struggles to stay afloat in Reagan-era San Francisco. Bad luck and poor decisions shape the family’s fortunes, but many of their problems are widely known: As Chris falls further behind on his bills, it becomes increasingly difficult to catch up. Although they both end up homeless at the end, Chris never sacrifices his dignity or his optimism for his family’s future.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Sam, Harry and Bill in Mamma Mia! (2008)
At the beginning of Mamma Mia! Amanda Seyfried’s character intends to invite her “real” father to her wedding – the only problem is that she’s not sure who it is. Finally, she narrows it down to three candidates (Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård and Colin Firth), all men with whom her mother (Meryl Streep) spent a magical summer many years ago (and who, by the way, have vastly different singing abilities). ). At first they are all reluctant to take responsibility, but in the end no one cares who is who: they are all her real fathers, if not by biology then by choice, and their found family is much more important than any blood test.
Where to watch: Max , digital rental
Mike and Sulley in Monsters, Inc. (2001)
The joke of “Monsters, Inc.” is that monsters Mike and Sulley (John Goodman and Billy Crystal) are at least as afraid of young children as their children are – a sentiment that young fathers can probably relate to. When Boo (Mary Gibbs) sneaks through a closet door into a fear factory, a pair of surrogate fathers go from fearing the girl to fearing for her and learn that laughter is stronger than anything scary.
Where to watch: Disney+ , digital rental.
Mac McGuff in Juno (2007)
Look, there is no way JK Simmons is going to play the sweet, cuddly dad. But when Eliot Page’s quirky Juno gets pregnant at 16, gruff Mac McGuff is just the man she needs. Without judging, condemning or intimidating, he supports her through every unexpected turn in her efforts to find adoptive parents for her child – and does so with a wry sense of humor and a (mildly) foul language that never turns mean. He ends by assuring his child that for the right person, the sun will always shine on Juno’s ass.
Oh, dad.
Where to watch: Hulu
Jonathan Kent and Jor-El in Superman (1978)
Neither of the dads in 1978’s Superman gets a ton of screen time, but Jonathan (Glenn Ford) raises Clark and, along with Martha, helps instill in him the values he’ll need to use his incredible powers to benefit others. Marlon Brando’s Jor-El also deserves credit for not only designing and building the strangely tiny rocket that sent his son to Earth, but also for showing up to offer advice from beyond the grave. Kal-El was the only survivor* on this doomed planet, and it was almost entirely thanks to his father, who sent an interactive virtual dad for Kal to talk to when young Superman needed a morale boost or just a lesson in the history of Krypton. I’m saying it took two dads (and a couple of amazing moms) working together with the entire universe to shape Clark.
(Including salary and earnings, Marlon Brando earned approximately $20 million in 1978 dollars from less than 20 minutes of screen time, making him not only one of the best, but also one of the highest paid fathers on the list.)
*Or one of dozens, including at least one dog, depending on which version of the story we’re talking about.
Where to watch: Max , digital rental
Lt. Donald Thompson in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Look, he’s not a perfect father.
Strike One: Don (the late, great John Saxon) participated in the extrajudicial murder of an accused child murderer (not a great image for a cop), resulting in Freddy Krueger attacking the town of Springwood; Freddy is now obsessed with getting revenge on the town’s teenagers; oops. Strike Two: When his smart and persuasive daughter Nancy tried to draw attention to this fact, he initially ignores her concerns (and uses her to lure out the killer, who he suspects is human). However, all of his (very significant!) mistakes were misguided attempts to protect his family. He comes to his senses at the end, helping Nancy defeat Freddy the first time and giving his life for her a couple of films later. And he helped develop the most inventive of all slasher protagonists, so he clearly did something right.
Where to watch: Netflix, digital rental.
Will Stacks in Annie (2014)
It’s no doubt a tough life for Quvenzhane Wallis’ Annie, but things start to look up when she has a chance encounter with Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx), a cell phone tycoon running for mayor of New York (also an updated version of “Dad” Warbucks” from earlier Annie adaptations). Will’s persistent campaign manager sees Annie as nothing more than a publicity stunt to help his boss win the election. At first she doesn’t mean anything more to Will, but of course, before the final musical number, she melts his cruel heart. While everyone is singing “Tomorrow,” preparations are being made for a new family and adoption.
Where to watch: Hulu , Tubi, digital rental.
Gomez Addams in The Addams Family (1991)
I’m not sure there’s a healthier relationship in film history than that between Raul Julia’s Gomez and Anjelica Huston’s Morticia. It may be a goofy, sometimes slapstick goth comedy, but their marriage is a true partnership between two people who remain deeply in love and genuinely excited for each other, even after years of marriage and a couple of kids. These two have heat. Everything else follows from this. Gomez is a great father: loving, supportive and playful. True to Addams’ credo, he will also happily (very willingly) feast on anyone who will subdue him, because protecting his family is almost as important as having fun.
Where to watch: Paramount+ , digital rental.
Antonio Ricci in Bicycle Thieves (1948)
A stolen bicycle is the catalyst for a father and son bonding in the beautifully photographed classic Italian film The Bicycle Thieves . With work in short supply, Antonio Lamberto Maggiorani is able to obtain a bicycle after his wife Maria pawns some of the valuable family property. In post-war Italy, times are the same as on Antonio’s first day of work, a bicycle is stolen, forcing Antonio and his son Bruno to scour the city for an important item. From this deceptively simple plot comes a thoughtful, moving and honest story of fathers and sons in troubled times.
Where to watch: Max , The Criterion Channel, Tubi, digital rental.
Frank Fisher in Hearts Beat Loud (2018)
Nick Offerman plays gruff widower Frank, a vinyl enthusiast and owner of a failing record store who finds himself in a midlife crisis. His daughter Sam is heading off to medical school in the fall, but shares her father’s love of music, even if their tastes don’t exactly match. She agrees to her father’s request to record a song together… and the resulting single becomes a streaming hit. It sounds sweet, but there’s a smart script and a stellar cast, as well as a clearly drawn portrait of a father and daughter who may have a little more in common than they think.
Where to watch: Peacock , Tubi, digital rental.
Rick Mitchell in The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
Danny McBride voices technophobe Rick Mitchell, who teams up with his daughter Katie (Abbie Jacobson) to save the world in this smart yet touching animated film. Aspiring director Katie is constantly at odds with her father, whose personality and obsession with tools leaves him sidelined when it comes to her dream of becoming a director. Instead of letting Katie fly off to college, Ricks decides to go on a road trip to help the whole family bond, which doesn’t work out until a tech company’s AI goes out of control and threatens the entire world; The family comes together again to fight the machines, and father and daughter learn to understand each other along the way.
Where to watch: Netflix, digital rental.
Seo Seok Woo in Train to Busan (2016)
As we have seen, it often takes a crisis to bring a family together. What about a zombie apocalypse? On the train? The 2016 South Korean production plays out just such a scenario: Seok Woo (Gong Yoo) is a workaholic divorced father who begins to feel like he’s running out of time to be the father he should be to his daughter Soo An (Kim Soo-an ). He has no idea how little time he has, as the train ride he plans for them as a bonding time turns into something much more desperate when a zombie-infected woman jumps on board just before departure. What follows is one of the best horror films of the last decade, and a surprisingly moving story about a father and daughter reunited at the end of the world.
Where to watch: Peacock , Tubi, digital rental.
Willie Jones on Friday (1995)
John Witherspoon’s Willie Jones is the beating heart of Friday’s series – the goofy, often embarrassing father of Ice Cube’s character who, like many the best fathers, is more than capable of completely destroying a bathroom. Throughout the Stoner/Buddy trilogy, Witherspoon delivers laughs, but it’s the unexpected moments of heart that cement his status as one of the best movie dads. The emotional message about gun violence in the first film somehow fits perfectly with the overall comedy, and it’s a tribute to Witherspoon’s talent. Many of the best fathers can do both: silly when necessary and serious when necessary.
Where to watch: digital rental.
Tatsuo Kusakabe in My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Archeology professor Tatsuo doesn’t spend much time with Mei and Satsuki throughout My Neighbor Totoro, which is just as well considering it gives his daughters the opportunity to have their own adventures. But he supports the girls every step of the way, giving free reign to their imaginations but also completely taking Mei at her word when she describes Totoro. With their mother sick and in the hospital, Tatsuo knows exactly when to raise his girls and when to let them explore the world freely.
Where to watch: Max , digital rental
Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Lawyer and widowed father Atticus Finch watches over Scout and her brother Jem in the fictional southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s. In this context, he is almost everything one could want in a father: he is a well-meaning but firm man who makes no effort to shield his children from the harsh realities of poverty and racism that surround their middle-class lives. While we have (hopefully) begun to move beyond the “white savior” narratives that Atticus so ably presents, there is no doubt that as a father figure he is an iconic character.
Where to watch: Tubi, digital rental.
Rahul Khanna in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)
As a single father in one of Bollywood’s most beloved rom-coms, Shah Rukh Khan’s Rahul Khanna hasn’t thought about anything other than taking care of his daughter Anjali in the eight years since her mother died. Anjali’s mom left letters for her daughter to read on each of her subsequent birthdays, and when she approaches her last birthday, she finds out that her father was almost in a relationship with another woman while in college. Naturally, Anjali decides that her father needs a girlfriend and that she is going to befriend him. The father-daughter relationship is truly adorable.
Where to watch: Netflix, Prime Video.
Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
Chaim Topol plays Tevye, a poor milkman from the town of Anatevka at the turn of the 20th century, a critical time of dramatic change. As the Russians gradually expel Jews from their villages, Tevye is forced to cope with both this existential threat to his family’s existence while also trying to maintain some sense of tradition and normalcy in the lives of the family, which includes three daughters who are approaching the age at which they can suitable for marriage. Although Tevye does not respond to change as well as he could (with the exception of disowning one daughter for marrying an unbeliever), he truly believes that all his actions are for the benefit of his children and do not allow them to move too quickly into an uncertain future. .
Where to watch: Tubi, MGM+, digital rental.
Woody Carmichael in Crooklyn (1994)
In Spike Lee’s semi-autobiographical film, the Carmichael family has a lot of trouble: set in the colorful Bed-Stuy of the early ’70s, there are fights with neighbors and equally violent quarrels within the family over money (and, in particular, Woody’s inability to save any). However, when the family matriarch dies, Woody and his daughter Troy (Zelda Harris) make an unspoken agreement to band together and keep what’s left of their family together. Not every parent is an island, and it is the loving partnership between father and daughter that brings the Carmichaels together.
Where to watch: digital rental.