We watched "Field of Dreams" on Friday night. I hadn't seen it in years, and Janelle had never - yes, I said "never" - seen it. As usual, I laughed, questioned, and enjoyed myself throughout.Have you ever thought about how truly weird that movie is? Not the baseball field in the corn field - that's not too weird. I mean, the voices from the sky, dead guys playing ball, and time travel that form the backbone of the movie. I love it, but when I think about most movies, I think, that one is weird!
The whole movie, really, is about the relationship
between a father and a son. It's a good story, but lacking a bit in the end for depth of relationship. It made me think of three of my favorite movies about fathers and sons, which do a much superior job:1. "Big Fish" - my favorite movie, period.
2. "Dead Poet's Society" - explores the theme, but through tragedy
3. "Up" - there is not a father to be found in the movie, but I'm pretty sure that's what the movie's about anyway.
Do you have any favorite father-son movies?
9 comments:
Two thumbs up for Big Fish. One of my all time favorite movies! Up is fabulous too. I never realized that there aren't any fathers. And I think you're right, that's the point!
Hamlet. I'd vote Oedipus Rex, but that hasn't been made into a movie, so far as I know.
“The thing about Icebergs is!”
Love that movie.
I think Field of Dreams is only weird in that for the most part the movie is set in the “real world” normal America so that when things like ghosts start showing up to play baseball you get the strong contrast between normal/other worldly. LOTR arguably has much more fantastical elements but contains them in Middle Earth not the Midwest.
As for father-son films:
-Maverick (surprised you didn’t mention it)
-Steamboy
-Empire Strikes Back
-The Royal Tenenbaums
-Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
-The Road (haven’t seen the movie yet but have read the book)
-Monsieur Ibrahim (falls in the same category as UP)
Thanks, Josh. Way to ruin it!
Jacob, I thought of Maverick, of course. But I think it's comedic bent tends to take the focus off of the father-son relationship, and put it on the comedy itself. No problem with that at all, just not worthy of mention in this post!
I've never seen it either! Knowing it's a father/son movie may help persuade me to try it out someday.
Did anyone mention Pursuit of Happyness?
Lion King, perhaps.
Spiderman, I should think.
If we allow father figures to count: A New Hope (Obi-Wan and Luke) and HP + the Chamber of Secrets (Dumbledore and Harry).
The original Battlestar Galactica, though not a film, has a great father-son relationship in Adama and Apollo.
Another show, King of the Hill, deserves an honorable mention; the father here is a rarity, a pop-culture character who is present and not a buffoon!
@Mark - father-figure movies count, of course. Like I said, "Up" doesn't have a single father in it, but that's what it's about. "Dead Poet's Society" explores the issue through a positive father-figure, and a negative father.
Another plus for "Field of Dreams" - James Earl Jones! Since you mentioned "Star Wars" and "Lion King," you must love him!
If you are going to allow father-figure movies, then you might also add Good Will Hunting to the mix.
Secondhand Lions and Frequency.
@Renea - oooh, those are both good. I'm going to have to start making my way back through this list.
@Josh - I still haven't seen "Good Will Hunting." I know, sad.
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