Film

Dad

Name: Dad
Genre: Drama
Released: 1989
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Ted Danson, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Spacey, Olympia Dukakis

Family drama

A busy Manhattan executive returns home when his mother falls ill and discovers his father—gruff, aging, slipping away—needs him more than he knew. Watching Jack Lemmon and Ted Danson circle each other with decades of hurt and love unspoken, it's a film about inheritance, regret, and the small mercies of second chances. Achingly sincere, sometimes clumsy, absolutely for anyone who's ever dreaded a difficult parent becoming their responsibility.

TMDb rating

3.2

If you liked this

On Golden Pond1981

The template for aging parents and adult sons learning to talk: Henry Fonda's curmudgeon father and a dock that becomes the stage for reckoning. Tender, unsentimental, and it proved this story could work.

But It can feel slow if you're not ready to sit with quiet. The fishing subplot doesn't land for everyone.

Terms of Endearment1983

Jack Black's mother-son and father-son dynamics unfold across years with the same blend of comedy and genuine heartbreak. It knows that family wounds are deepest because the love is real.

But The tonal shifts between comedy and tragedy jar some viewers. It's also three hours, and the ending is deliberately painful.

Ordinary People1980

A fractured family trying to reassemble after trauma. Robert Redford's direction finds the unsaid conversations, the flinches, the moments when love can't quite break through the damage.

But It's glacial and claustrophobic. If you need your drama to move, this isn't it.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Dad

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Man Called Ove2015

Both are about men learning that their fathers' stubbornness was actually love all along, and that reconciliation might come too late but not too late to matter.

An elderly Swedish curmudgeon and his estranged son, with a neighbor who forces connection. It has Dad's heart—the father teaching his son love through gruff example—but it's set in a different continent with a lighter touch and actual warmth that doesn't feel earned yet.

But It's deliberately heartwarming in a way that can feel engineered. If you resist the charm, it falls apart.

The Kominsky Method2018

Two aging men (Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin) sharing an apartment, cracking jokes while confronting mortality, irrelevance, and what they owe each other. It has Dad's DNA but with wit and a little more edge.

But Uneven over its three seasons. The second season particularly loses momentum.

I Never Sang for My Father1970

Gene Hackman as the impossible father, Melvyn Douglas as the dying patriarch. A son's guilt and obligation laid bare with devastating honesty. This film knows the specific pain of parental love.

But Bleak in a way that offers no comfort. Very much a product of its era in pacing and style.

Krisha2016

Arian Askaryan makes his acting debut as himself in this semi-autobiographical film about returning home as a man and reconnecting with his aging father. Quiet, devastating, utterly real in a way most films aren't.

But Glacially paced and hypnotic in a way that will test your patience. There's little plot or conventional drama.

Nebraska2013

Bruce Dern's elderly father and Will Forte's son drive cross-country in black and white. Alexander Payne finds absurdity and tenderness in the relationship, never choosing between them.

But The black-and-white photography won't appeal to everyone. It's more interested in mood than narrative propulsion.

The Father2020

Anthony Hopkins as a man losing his grip on reality and his son trying to care for him. Formally inventive—the film fractures to match his confusion—and genuinely unsettling about aging and dependency.

But Deliberately disorienting. If you're looking for clarity or comfort, this film withholds it.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape1993

Johnny Depp as a son caring for his mother (Darlene Cates) and brother (Leonardo DiCaprio in a stunning performance). It's about the weight of obligation and the small rebellions against it.

But The tone can feel maudlin. Some of the plot threads feel underbaked or dropped entirely.

About My Father2023

Both are about learning who your parent actually is, not who you thought they were—and discovering that's infinitely more interesting and heartbreaking.

A documentary where James Nasio follows his aging Italian father and his younger boyfriend cross-country. It's tender and funny and unsentimental about aging, family, and mortality in a way most narrative films can't achieve.

But The handheld documentary aesthetic isn't for everyone. It also moves at its own pace and sometimes that pace is static.

In Another Country2012

Both examine how little sons actually know their fathers, and how that gap never quite closes—but both suggest that showing up might be enough.

Hong Sang-soo's chamber film about an aging man, his son, and memory itself becoming unreliable. It's also about fathers and sons, duty and distance, but refracted through Korean cinema's oblique angles and constant rewatching of the same scenes from different angles.

But It's deliberately cryptic and repetitive. If you need clarity or conventional narrative, this will frustrate you.