Father’s Day 2021 is fast approaching and there’s no better way to spend the day than watching a movie with your dad or with your kids if you are a dad! From comedies, to dramas, to even a cartoon, we’ve got you covered!
Check out our list of Father’s Day films!
10-Daddy Daycare
Eddie Murphy did a complete 180 on his career when he went from Raw to kid-friendly movies like Shrek, Dr. Dolittle, The Haunted Mansion, and Imagine That and Daddy Daycare continues this family friendly trend.
Murphy plays Charlie Hinton, who was laid off from his job and opens an in-home daycare center with coworker and fellow dad Phil Ryerson (Jeff Garlin) so they can earn money while staying at home with their kids and providing daycare for the local neighborhood. Murphy and Garlin star alongside Anjelica Huston, Steve Zahn, Regina King, and Kevin Nealon.
9-National Lampoon’s Vacation
This six-movie franchise, plus a made-for-TV movie and a series spawned from the first hilarious Vacation movie in 1983. Chevy Chase stars as Clark Griswold, who desperately wants to show his family a good time and create lifelong memories when he packs up his family and drives them cross-country from their home in Chicago to the fictional Wally World in California.
8-Friday
The late, great John Witherspoon was known mostly for his exaggerated hilarity which he exhibits in Friday as Mr. Jones, the father of Ice Cube’s Craig. While Friday isn’t exactly about fatherhood, it’s a great movie to watch with your dad! John Witherspoon reprised his role as Craig’s dad in all three films and maintained his consistent performance in each film.
7-Hearts Beat Loud
In this charming father-daughter film, Nick Offerman plays Frank Fisher, record store owner and single dad to college-bound Sam Fisher (Kiersey Clemons). The two record a song together during one of their weekly jam sessions and it quickly becomes a viral internet sensation. We see Frank with his daughter Sam together hanging out, having heart-to-heart conversations, arguing, and making music together.
We also see him attempt to maneuver through an undeniably confusing relationship with his “landlady” Leslie played by indie darling Toni Collette. We also enjoy a not so subtle nod to the 80’s TV hit show Cheers as Ted Danson is cast as Dave, the local bar owner and Frank’s best bud.
6-Spider-man Into the Spiderverse
Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature Film Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse stars an Afro-Latino teenage character, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore). Miles and his dad, PDNY officer Jefferson Davis (Brian Tyree Henry) have their struggles.
Miles wants his independence while his dad wants to know where he is at all times to keep him safe while Miles secretly becomes the Spider-Man of his universe, and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities. The film also stars Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Nicolas Cage, Lauren Velez to voice the roles.
5-Selena
In this true story of Selena, a Texas-born Tejano singer, Edward James Olmos plays Abraham Quintanilla, father of 3 talented performers including the international crossover singing sensation Selena (Jennifer Lopez).
Olmos portrays Quintanilla as a loving, supportive, and somewhat overbearing father, who obviously loves his children and will do absolutely anything for them.
4-Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
This comic book movie follows Chris Pratt as Starlord aka Peter Quill, who discovers he has a father named Ego who is a God. The relationship proves to be super dysfunctional, but the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy manage to keep Peter on track and prevent him from making a catastrophic decision.
Luckily his adoptive dad Yondu (Michael Rooker) shows up and shows Quill how a real father behaves.
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3-Grown ups (1&2)
Adam Sandler has made so many dad movies that he could almost have a list of his own between Blended, Click, Big Daddy, Lil Nicky, and the Grownups films. Sandler stars along with Chris Rock, Kevin James, Rob Schneider, David Spade as childhood friends who reunite after 15 years for their coach’s funeral.
The group, along with their wives played by Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, & Maya Rudolph, and their children spend the weekend at a lakeside cabin as the men exhibit their parenting prowess.
2-Boyz N the Hood
Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne) held nothing back and dropped some serious knowledge as the father of Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Tre in Boyz n the Hood. Whether it was preaching about gentrification and the plight of the crack epidemic or talking Tre down from seeking revenge with a gun, Furious did whatever necessary to ensure his son became a man growing up in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Styles’ role in his son’s life is the overarching game-changer that separates Tre from the streets and a promising college education. John Singleton earned the first Oscar nomination for this film. Fishburne and Gooding Jr. star alongside Ice Cube, Morris Chestnut, and Angela Bassett.
1-Parenthood
Much like Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler, Steve Martin has a ton of movies where he plays a parent including Father of the Bride (1&2), Cheaper By the Dozen (1&2), and A Simple Twist of Fate. In this movie, Martin plays Gil who is dad to his children, son to his father Frank (Jason Robards), husband to his wife Karen (Mary Steenburgen), and brother to his siblings.
The ensemble cast also includes Tom Hulce, Rick Moranis, Martha Plimpton, Joaquin Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, and Dianne Wiest, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as a single mom to Julie (Plimpton) and Garry (Phoenix as Leaf Phoenix).
So many of these Father’s Day films have top-notch casts, award nominations, as well as wins! Parenthood takes the #1 spot for both the incredible cast and the unbelievably relatable writing.
The movie covers just about every “type” that could possibly be included in a family. Reel360 and Reel Chicago want to wish you a happy Father’s Day!
Joia DaVida reports on the entertainment industry in both Chicago and Los Angeles.
