5 Fantastic Father-Son Movies to Watch This Father's Day
by Andy Neuenschwander
Whether you're looking for a movie to watch with dad or a movie about dads, there are plenty of options out there for you this Father's Day weekend. In particular, the father-son relationship is a staple of classic Hollywood films of all kinds, from small comedies to large-scale action flicks.
So you don't have to search far and wide for a movie about a father and son, but which ones are the best ones to watch this weekend?
Here's our list of Father's Day movies for all kinds of moods, whether you want to laugh or cry. Or both.
"Warrior"
Ultimately, "Warrior" is more about brothers than it is about fathers and sons, but Nick Nolte's alcoholic, mostly absent father figure definitely informs the relationship between Joel Edgerton's and Tom Hardy's characters. "Warrior" follows a pair of brothers who sign up for an amateur MMA tournament with a big cash prize: Edgerton plays a school teacher who needs the money for his family, while Hardy plays his estranged brother who is just out to prove himself.
The road to the big finish is full of family drama alongside the exciting fights and "Rocky"-esque training sequences, but we pretty much guarantee that you'll be in tears at the end of this one.
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"
Fans tend to value "Raiders of the Lost Ark" over "Last Crusade" in terms of quality, but we maintain that "Last Crusade" is the most exciting movie of the Indiana Jones trilogy (yes, trilogy) pound for pound. How could you go wrong with Harrison Ford and Sean Connery fighting Nazis?
Fun fact: Sean Connery is only 12 years older than Harrison Ford, and was probably a tad insulted that he was brought in to play Ford's father. But hey, it worked out for us!
"Field of Dreams" is perhaps the perfect film for Father's Day: It's heartwarming, it's appropriate for the whole family, and it's a sports movie. Add to that the relationship between Ray (Kevin Costner) and his father and between Ray and his daughter, and you also have a movie that's chock full of father-child themes.
We're not going to pretend that things turn out perfectly for the father-son duo of Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger in this Revolutionary War epic, but hey, life isn't always sunshine and rainbows and having a catch with dad in the cornfield baseball diamond you built.
As an added bonus, we're only a few weeks away from the 4th of July, so this movie serves a double seasonal purpose.
Just in case you're feeling really sad after watching sadder father-son movies like "The Patriot" (or worse, "The Godfather"), here's a tale to cheer you up. Everything has a happy ending for the father and son in this one, which is surprisingly rare between parents and children in animated movies. Take it from "Bambi," "Frozen" and "The Lion King": The parents don't always make it all the way to the end. Disney is practically patri/matricidal.
Do you have a favorite father/son movie? Give us your recommendation in the comments!