Rama's Screen

Happy Father’s Day… best wishes to you movie freak fathers out there who love your families like Tom Baker would his in Cheaper By The Dozen. So to celebrate this occasion, I’ve compiled my own short list of 5 Best and 5 Worst movie fathers this year so far. I said ’so far’ because the characters mentioned are… only from movies from the beginning of this year up until this very moment. So World’s Greatest Dad is not yet included.
You may not agree with my choices or reasons behind them, so if I overlooked some things, feel free to chime in. After all, I’m not a father myself, so I may not be completely qualified to make the following judgment call.. Heads up, This article may contain SPOILERS..

BEST MOVIE FATHERS:

Joe Lorkowski (Sunshine Cleaning)

Played by Alan Arkin, Joe Lorkowski has 2 daughters who went into the business of cleaning up after crime scenes. What I respect about Joe was that he let his daughter learn from their own mistakes and he didn’t dictate how they should live their lives. He’d give advice but he didn’t impose. He allowed his youngest one to move in until she figured out what she wanted to do with her life. He always made the time for his grandchild no matter how quirky his own business venture might be for the kid. In the end, he even sold his own house so that he could use the money for his daughter to start over again.

John Koestler (Knowing)

Played by Nicolas Cage, Joe Koestler was your typical protective, sometimes over-bearing father but he had a good reason to be exactly that. When the world around him was falling apart, literally, Joe was determined to keep his son by his side as he tried to solve those apocalyptic numbers. Not knowing what threat or who out there is haunting his kid, he entered the forest with just a bat in his hand, ready to fight back. Joe loved his son so much that he was willing to let him go so that the Aliens could keep him safe.

George Kirk (Star Trek)

Played by Chris Hemsworth, George Kirk appeared briefly in this movie but left enough impression to make him deserve to be in this category. When it mattered the most, he was willing to sacrifice himself so that his wife, who was giving birth to his son in the midst of all the chaos, can live. He may not get the chance to experience a lifetime of fatherhood but for that very few moments, he embodied what any father would do in similar dire situation. His legacy became the one thing that dared James Tiberius Kirk to do better.

Burt Farlander (Away We Go)

Played by John Krasinski, some may argue that Burt wasn’t really a father yet because his girlfriend’s baby was pregnant throughout the entire movie, we never really got to see the baby. But if you’ve seen the movie, then you’d know that Burt had always acted like a father and loved being a father even if the baby was still in the womb. I don’t know the specific medical jargon but when his pregnant girlfriend said that the baby needed to have his numbers up,… from then on, Burt would constantly try to surprise her or purposely yell just so that the numbers would go up. Under the stars, on a trampoline, he promised to always be there for the child no matter what.

A tie: John Collingwood (The Last House On The Left) and Bryan Mills (Taken)

Now this could get a bit tricky. I put these 2 characters as equal because they were both awesome fathers in the same violent, disturbing, badass manners. John Collingwood, played by Tony Goldwyn, was a doctor who healed his daughter after a gruesome, traumatic evening which then compelled him and his wife to take matters into their own hands, to put vengeance upon those who hurt their daughter. Payback’s a b*tch!
Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neeson did what any father with CIA background would do if his daughter got kidnapped to be sold to human trafficking and time was of the essence. He’d kick every door, bust every chop, chase every lead, shoot every traitor to get his daughter back. He didn’t have money but what he had was a set of particular skills that would bring nightmare to kidnappers, he would find them, and he would kill them.

WORST MOVIE FATHERS:

Sam Bell (Moon)

Played by Sam Rockwell, this was a magnificent movie with a monumental performance but Sam Bell was a terrible father because he left his daughter in the most critical early ages of her life to go work on the moon for 3 years. The real Sam Bell was also a terrible father for making his copies believe that they’re doing their job for their daughters. The vicious cycle continued for so many times until it finally got broken.

Evan Danielson (Imagine That)

Played by Eddie Murphy, Evan Danielson is your textbook bad parenting. He was overly busy with his work, he forgot some of his daughter’s appointments, he eventually became obsessed with his daughter’s blanket which he considered his lucky charm. Sure in the end everything’s all well with the world, but he interrupted his daughter’s musical play when he could’ve just been there early for the whole event in the first place.

Walter Garber (The Taking of Pelham 123)

Played by Denzel Washington, Walter Garber confessed to illegally taking bribe for his own family. Pressured by the villain on the other end of the line, he finally told the truth that he took that money to pay for his daughter’s college tuition. He broke the law and he lied. It didn’t matter if it was for a seemingly good reason, what kind of lesson would his actions teach his daughter?! If he goes to jail for bribery, his daughter would have to spend her college years with her head held down embarrassed because her peeps will be talking behind her back about her father all the time.
(Thanks for moviebuff123 for the correction, from ’stealing’ to ‘taking bribe’)

Mike O’Donnell (17 Again)

Played by Matthew Perry, Mike O’Donnell was not just too busy with his family, he was too occupied with regrets. He was so fixed on coulda, shoulda, woulda instead of appreciating his wife and being grateful for his son and daughter. He wanted to relive his high school glory so badly that he became out of touch and unable to connect with his kids. He hated his job, he hated his life. It’s a shame that he actually had to be young again just to realize his blessings.

Biggie Wallace (Notorious)

Played by Jamal Woolard. I can’t think of a more negligent father than Biggie. Great rapper but awful at keeping up with his little kids. Not to mention he always took the time to sleep with sluts and hoes along the way and not come home for many nights. The other girl he’s living with didn’t even know he already got kids. Sure we’d see him playing with his kids once in a while but just like a switch on and off, he quickly turned to his double party nightlife like it’s nobody else’s business. His parenting style reminds me of Tony Soprano’s without the mobster deal.