The Nine Best Dads In Movie History
And no, they're not all Mufasa.
In cinemas now:
Delivery Man hit Australian cinemas last week. We thought that seemed like a good opportunity to look back at the best dads in movie history.
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Cinema has had a long-standing love affair with dads. There’s just something about fatherhood that’s able to give an otherwise irredeemable character a halo of shining light. In the case of Vince Vaughn’s Delivery Man, you give a guy 533 children and that thermonuclear halo can be seen from space.
The dads we watched growing up that made us look at our own fathers with a newfound sense of disappointment. The dads who saved lives and destroyed empires and fought against injustice. The dads who cracked wise and taught us everything we knew. The dads who were willing to kill a whole lot of people, just for us, and dispensed their knowledge in perfectly sculpted 30 second soundbites. These are the dads we looked up to, the men that made us who we are today. We salute you, dads of cinema!
And, uh, also our real fathers. They were pretty great too. *cough*
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Daniel Hillard, AKA Mrs Doubtfire
Film: Mrs Doubtfire (1993)
Nothing says “deadbeat Dad desperate to reconnect with his children” like dressing up as an overweight Mary Poppins and conning your way into what was once the shared family home. Sure the therapy bills will probably pile up when the kids hit college, but you can’t fault Daniel Hillard for his devotion to his kids.
Also, thanks to him we now have this:
Dad Verdict: Drag’s never a drag with drag dad!
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Dr Evil
Film: Austin Powers series (1997-2002)
It’s not the most chronologically or morally straightforward family tree going around, but even Earth’s resident supervillian knew the importance of family. Bring it in, Scott.
Dad Verdict: Million dollar daddy.
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Clark Griswold
Film: National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
He just wanted his family to have a good time together. A good, old-fashioned, all-American fun family holiday with laughs and bonding and a few life lessons along the way. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK? IS IT? TELL ME, ANIMATRONIC MOOSE! TELL ME WHY IT’S TOO MUCH TO GODDAMN ASK! STOP MOCKING ME, MOOSE!
Dad Verdict: The original dad is better than the sequels. Especially the European one.
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Atticus Finch
Film: To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
Atticus Finch is pretty much the marker by which every movie father in the intervening years has been judged.
Decreed by the American Film Institute to be the greatest hero in cinematic history, Atticus was smart, brave, empathetic, charitable, generous, and possessed a fine line in eyewear. While on most metrics this does also make him the most boring dad on here, sometimes it’s the quietest men who leave the biggest mark.
Dad Verdict: Makes Sandy Cohen look like Satan.
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Mufasa
Film: The Lion King (1994)
Fun fact: I saw The Lion King four times at the cinema, and four times I cried when Mufasa died. This is potentially a bigger emotional reaction than I have had to any family tragedy to date. Maybe the lions were really just brutal imperialists ruling over the African savannah with a carnivorous fist, but they had such solid family values, y’know?
Dad Verdict: This dad’s only sin is pride! …Because he’s a lion. A group of lions is a pride. Ah, this stuff is wasted on you.
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Henry Jones
Film: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Perhaps this isn’t the most emotionally fulfilling relationship on the list, but you’re always learning something with Henry Jones.
Today’s lesson: Charlemagne and Nazi killing!
Dad Verdict: Who cares if your father is an uninvolved, emotionally distant monster when he’s Sean Connery? Chin up, Junior.
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Darth Vader
Film: Star Wars series (1977-infinity, probably)
Look, he wasn’t the most “hands-on” dad in the galaxy, but when push came to throwing-the-symbol-of-all-that-is-evil into an electrical shaft, well, Papa Vader came through with the goods.
And let’s be honest, if Episodes I-III are anything to go by, Anakin Skywalker was a lot cooler after he had kids than he was before.
Dad Verdict: James Earl Jones is a white man?!
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Bryan Mills
Film: Taken (2008)
Ten points for dedication, Bryan, but did you have to slaughter so many Albanian terrorists? The answer, of course, is yes. I mean, wouldn’t you kill 32 real life humans in order to get your daughter back?
[NB. Bryan could also be considered for a best husbands list, given that Taken 2 featured exactly the same plot as Taken 1 except they replaced his daughter with his wife. I presume the in-production Taken 3 will see the Albanians kidnapping Bryan’s dog. Will those wacky Albanians ever learn?]
Dad Verdict: Dozens of bereaved Albanian widows can’t be wrong!
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Guido Orefice
Film: Life Is Beautiful (1997)
It requires a certain kind of father to take the cumulative horrors of the Holocaust and transform them into a fun game for your son. One just hopes his fellow inmates were as taken with Guido’s unique brand of whimsy.
Dad Verdict: Putting the fun dad back in funda(d)mentalist Nazi atrocities.
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Delivery Man is out now in Australian cinemas.
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