Best Dads Ever Portrayed on Screen
by stewiec85 | created - 04 Jul 2011 | updated - 01 Feb 2017 | PublicOscar Nominees and Oscar Winners for playing fathers
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Pelle the Conqueror (1987)
PG-13 | 157 min | Drama
When his wife dies, Lasse takes his 12-year-old son, Pelle, from their home in Sweden to Denmark in search of a better life.
Director: Bille August | Stars: Pelle Hvenegaard, Max von Sydow, Erik Paaske, Björn Granath
Votes: 11,860 | Gross: $2.05M
Lassefar (Max Von Sydow) Best Actor Nominee
2. Biutiful (2010)
R | 148 min | Drama, Romance
A man dying of cancer tries his best to leave the world on his own terms.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella
Votes: 94,604 | Gross: $5.10M
Uxbal (Javier Bardem) Best Actor Nominee
3. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
PG | 105 min | Drama
After his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Jane Alexander, Justin Henry
Votes: 154,704 | Gross: $106.26M
Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) Best Actor Winner
4. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
PG-13 | 117 min | Biography, Drama
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career
Director: Gabriele Muccino | Stars: Will Smith, Thandiwe Newton, Jaden Smith, Brian Howe
Votes: 560,662 | Gross: $163.57M
Chris Gardner (Will Smith) Best Actor Nominee
5. In the Bedroom (2001)
R | 131 min | Crime, Drama
A New England couple's college-aged son dates an older woman who has two small children and an unwelcome ex-husband.
Director: Todd Field | Stars: Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei
Votes: 42,424 | Gross: $35.93M
Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson) Best Actor Nominee
6. Missing (1982)
PG | 122 min | Biography, Drama, History
When an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him.
Director: Costa-Gavras | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Melanie Mayron, John Shea
Votes: 23,359 | Gross: $14.00M
Ed Horman (Jack Lemmon) Best Actor Nominee
7. Blood Diamond (2006)
R | 143 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
A fisherman, a smuggler, and a syndicate of businessmen match wits over the possession of a priceless diamond.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly, Kagiso Kuypers
Votes: 585,996 | Gross: $57.37M
Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
8. In the Name of the Father (1993)
R | 133 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Alison Crosbie, Philip King
Votes: 187,094 | Gross: $25.01M
Giuseppi Conlon (Pete Postlethwaite) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
9. The Champ (I) (1931)
Passed | 86 min | Drama, Family, Sport
An alcoholic ex-boxer struggles to provide a good living for his son.
Director: King Vidor | Stars: Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper, Irene Rich, Roscoe Ates
Votes: 3,620
Andy Champ Purcell (Wallace Beery) Best Actor Winner
10. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
PG-13 | 141 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Barely 17 yet, Frank is a skilled forger who has passed as a doctor, lawyer and pilot. FBI agent Carl becomes obsessed with tracking down the con man, who only revels in the pursuit.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen
Votes: 1,095,398 | Gross: $164.62M
Frank Abagnale Sr. (Christopher Walken) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
11. Road to Perdition (2002)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A mob enforcer's son in 1930s Illinois witnesses a murder, forcing him and his father to take to the road, and his father down a path of redemption and revenge.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Paul Newman
Votes: 284,501 | Gross: $104.45M
John Rooney (Paul Newman) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
12. The Kids Are All Right (2010)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their biological father into their non-traditional family life.
Director: Lisa Cholodenko | Stars: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska
Votes: 134,432 | Gross: $20.81M
Paul (Mark Ruffalo) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
13. Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
PG | 143 min | Drama, Music
A frustrated composer finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher.
Director: Stephen Herek | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne Headly, Jay Thomas, Olympia Dukakis
Votes: 41,702 | Gross: $82.57M
Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) Best Actor Nominee
14. Moonstruck (1987)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Loretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello
Votes: 68,455 | Gross: $80.64M
Cosmo Castorini (Vincent Gardenia) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
15. Sounder (1972)
G | 105 min | Drama, Family
The oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks, Carmen Mathews
Votes: 4,826 | Gross: $3.10M
Nathan Lee Morgan (Paul Winfield) Best Actor Nominee
16. The Godfather (1972)
R | 175 min | Crime, Drama
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Votes: 2,012,044 | Gross: $134.97M
Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) Best Actor Winner
17. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama, History
Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, houses over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda, Africa.
Director: Terry George | Stars: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Xolani Mali
Votes: 372,218 | Gross: $23.53M
Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) Best Actor Nominee
18. Affliction (1997)
R | 114 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A deeply troubled small-town cop investigates a suspicious hunting death while other events jeopardize his sanity.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn, Brigid Tierney
Votes: 19,089 | Gross: $6.30M
Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte) Best Actor Nominee Glen Whitehouse (James Coburn) Best Supporting Actor Winner
19. The Cider House Rules (1999)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Romance
A compassionate young man, raised in an orphanage and trained to be a doctor there, decides to leave to see the world.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, Michael Caine, Delroy Lindo
Votes: 104,785 | Gross: $57.55M
Dr. Wilbur Larch (Michael Caine) Best Supporting Actor Winner
20. Tribute (1980)
PG | 121 min | Comedy, Drama
A shallow Broadway press agent learns he is dying just as his son by his ex-wife arrives for a visit.
Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Robby Benson, Lee Remick, Colleen Dewhurst
Votes: 838
Scottie Templeton (Jack Lemmon) Best Actor Nominee
21. The Prince of Tides (1991)
R | 132 min | Drama, Romance
A troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.
Director: Barbra Streisand | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Nick Nolte, Blythe Danner, Kate Nelligan
Votes: 19,726 | Gross: $74.79M
Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte) Best Actor Nominee
22. A Better Life (2011)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, Romance
A gardener in East L.A. struggles to keep his son away from gangs and immigration agents while trying to give his son the opportunities he never had.
Director: Chris Weitz | Stars: Demián Bichir, José Julián, Eddie 'Piolin' Sotelo, Joaquín Cosio
Votes: 16,537 | Gross: $1.76M
23. Warrior (2011)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Drama, Sport
The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.
Director: Gavin O'Connor | Stars: Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison
Votes: 497,843 | Gross: $13.66M
24. Beginners (2010)
R | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer and that he has a young male lover.
Director: Mike Mills | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic
Votes: 94,814 | Gross: $5.79M
25. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano
Votes: 743,085 | Gross: $57.60M
26. The Descendants (2011)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
A land baron tries to reconnect with his two daughters after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause
Votes: 251,790 | Gross: $82.58M
27. On Golden Pond (1981)
PG | 109 min | Drama
Norman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.
Director: Mark Rydell | Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon
Votes: 34,857 | Gross: $119.29M
28. The Great Santini (1979)
PG | 115 min | Drama
As he approaches manhood, Ben Meechum struggles to win the approval of his demanding alpha male father, an aggressively competitive, but frustrated Marine pilot.
Director: Lewis John Carlino | Stars: Robert Duvall, Blythe Danner, Michael O'Keefe, Lisa Jane Persky
Votes: 6,944
29. Kotch (1971)
GP | 113 min | Comedy, Drama
Wanting to avoid settling in a nursing home, Joseph Kotcher, a retired salesman, is obliged to leave his son's family. He embarks on a road trip during which he strikes up a friendship with... See full summary »
Director: Jack Lemmon | Stars: Walter Matthau, Deborah Winters, Felicia Farr, Charles Aidman
Votes: 1,627 | Gross: $1.33M
30. Nebraska (2013)
R | 115 min | Drama
An aging, booze-addled father makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million-dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk
Votes: 123,510 | Gross: $17.65M
31. American Hustle (2013)
R | 138 min | Crime, Drama
A con man, Irving Rosenfeld, along with his seductive partner Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for a wild F.B.I. Agent, Richie DiMaso, who pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and the Mafia.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence
Votes: 500,302 | Gross: $150.12M
32. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver
Votes: 742,663 | Gross: $132.09M
33. About Schmidt (2002)
R | 125 min | Drama
A recently retired man embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding, only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, Kathy Bates
Votes: 133,571 | Gross: $65.02M
34. Mystic River (2003)
R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The tragic murder of a 19-year-old girl reunites three childhood friends still living in Boston--the victim's gangster father, a detective, and the disturbed man they both suspect of killing her.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Emmy Rossum
Votes: 485,795 | Gross: $90.14M
35. I Am Sam (2001)
PG-13 | 132 min | Drama
An intellectually disabled man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter and in the process teaches his cold-hearted lawyer the value of love and family.
Director: Jessie Nelson | Stars: Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dakota Fanning, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 155,302 | Gross: $40.31M
36. Captain Fantastic (2016)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama
In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.
Director: Matt Ross | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso
Votes: 235,046 | Gross: $5.88M
37. Fences (2016)
PG-13 | 139 min | Drama
A working-class African-American father tries to raise his family in the 1950s, while coming to terms with the events of his life.
Director: Denzel Washington | Stars: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jovan Adepo
Votes: 118,004 | Gross: $57.68M
38. Quiz Show (1994)
PG-13 | 133 min | Biography, Drama, History
A young lawyer, Richard Goodwin, investigates a potentially fixed game show. Charles Van Doren, a big time show winner, is under Goodwin's investigation.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, John Turturro, Rob Morrow, Paul Scofield
Votes: 73,330 | Gross: $24.82M
39. All That Jazz (1979)
R | 123 min | Drama, Music, Musical
Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer
Votes: 35,380 | Gross: $37.82M
Tell Your Friends