Happy Father’s Day! It’s your special day, and you get to do whatever you want to do. For some, that might mean hanging out with the fellas. Perhaps you prefer to cut your grass in solitude or tend to your vegetable garden. For others, it might mean tooling around in the workshop. But for those like me, who love movies…we just want to pop a couple of Blu-Rays/DVDs/VHS Tapes in their respective players and veg out on the couch. And to my fellow cinephiles…here’s a list for you!
Field of Dreams
Looking for a good cry? Sure you are. No man can resist the urge to choke back tears when Kevin Costner asks the ghost(?) of his young, ball-playing father for a game of catch. I’m tearing up right now just thinking about it. Playing catch with your dad, and then with your own children (if you decide to go that route), is a time-honored tradition that no one can pass up. No matter your age, no matter where you are in your life, playing catch with your dad is the gold standard.
And hey! This movie is about baseball, too! I know baseball isn’t as sexy as football, or exciting as basketball, or as fast-paced as hockey…but it’s still the national pastime, and there is a romanticism about the sport and history of baseball that is undeniable. Field of Dreams is a love letter to the sport of baseball as much as it is to the simple, yet complex relationship between fathers and sons.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Some would say this film is best of the Indiana Jones franchise, including my own son and Spielberg himself.While I’m biased to the first one, Last Crusade is an excellent movie as it resonates with action-adventure movie lovers and connects with fathers and sons alike. Lots of character tidbits get dropped in this movie: We learn how Indiana gets his scar on the chin (a real scar for Harrison Ford), Indiana’s real name and where he got his nickname, and his relationship with his father as a young man. The last one is obviously a major character arc in this movie, and arguably the main emotional thread throughout the film.
And that’s why this film is on the list. It’s about a father and son, both relatively experts in their fields of study, but neither an expert in being a family. There’s tons of action, tons of laughs, and a near perfect ending to the trilogy. Look, I likeIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, but they are chapters in the world of Indiana Jones. We do get a role reversal for Indy in the 4th film, when we meet Mutt and it’s an interesting look at the father-son relationship, but Last Crusade is great because of Henry Jones and Henry Jones, Jr.
John Wick
How about something that’s for all guys, not just dads. John Wick!
But which one? All of them! The ultimate action movie series that came out of nowhere in 2014, spawning multiple copycats (Extraction films, Nobody films, The Beekeeper (Granted, Statham has been doing his thing for a while), Gunpowder Milkshake, Boy Kills World, Sisu films (kinda, sorta), Novocaine, AtomicBlonde (Same Wick co-director)
You cannot go wrong with any of the Wick films, but each gets bigger and better if you watch from the first to the last. Once again, Keanu Reeves delivers in a franchise that changes a genre and delivers the ultimate guy movie. This is the type of film, I would see dudes flying solo back when I worked at a movie theater, clearly skipping work, to catch this film.
Parenthood
This is a movie for parents, and there are so many relatable moments for dads in the story of the Buckman family. You’ve got Nathan (Rick Moranis) trying to give his daughter the perfect leg up in her life with his insistence on educational activities. Later realizing it’s notexactly healthy to be that uber serious. There’s also the disconnect between Gil (Steve Martin) and his father, Frank (Jason Robards), where the movie really digs into how sons are shaped by their fathers, when they become parents themselves.
Speaking of Gil Buckman, all us dads are Gil dancing and celebrating all over that baseball field when our kids make a big play and overcome an obstacle in the face of the haters. This movie also has one of the best lines about fatherhood, that I often repeat, and it comes from John Wick-himself, a young Keanu Reeves playing Tod, who tells his mother-in-law his thoughts about fatherhood and how it can go wrong: “You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog or drive a car. Hell, you need a license to catch a fish! But they'll let any butt-reaming a**hole be a father.”
Even More Dad Movies
Okay, let’s get lighting round with this. Looking for movies about man-babies forced, either by accident or by chance, into caring for a young child. We’re talking Adam Sandler in Big Daddy, the trio of bachelors in Three Men and a Baby. Dads trying to make things work after life throws them some major curve balls: Mr. Mom, We Bought a Zoo, Daddy Day Care, Captain Fantastic, both Daddy’s Home movies and yes, Road to Perdition.
There dozens of other films that dive into the complex relationships we all have with fathers, some funny and poignant like the Father of the Bride series, Fatherhood and Instant Family, and others a bit more serious like The Father and The Judge. Whatever your preferences, it’s clear that dads have been well-represented in films.
Happy Father’s Day to all my fellow Dad’s out there!
About the Author:
Michael Field has been telling stories his whole life—on film sets, behind microphones, on the page, and in late-night writing sessions that stretch until morning. From short films and feature scripts to podcasts, digital series, and novels, he is drawn to characters who wrestle with identity, legacy, and the choices that define them.
Over the years, he has directed more than a hundred shorts, co-created the Forgotten Cinema podcast, and written scripts that blend pulp adventure, supernatural mystery, and human drama. His novels carry that same mix of heart, danger, and imagination, expanding his storytelling into new mediums and audiences. Storytelling isn’t just his career; it’s the way he moves through the world.
Website: MichaeldField.com
Podcast: Forgotten Cinema
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