Fathers (difficult/complex/absent, etc.)

by ankipe | created - 27 Feb 2020 | updated - 2 weeks ago | Public

Movies about fathers and difficult, complex and absent fathers.

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1. The Wife (I) (2017)

R | 99 min | Drama

77 Metascore

A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm to see her husband receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Director: Björn Runge | Stars: Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Max Irons, Christian Slater

Votes: 42,904 | Gross: $9.60M

2. Big Fish (2003)

PG-13 | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy

58 Metascore

A frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.

Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange

Votes: 458,997 | Gross: $66.26M

3. Dead Poets Society (1989)

PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama

79 Metascore

Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.

Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles

Votes: 546,435 | Gross: $95.86M

4. Beautiful Boy (I) (2018)

R | 120 min | Biography, Drama

62 Metascore

Based on the best-selling pair of memoirs from father and son David and Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years.

Director: Felix van Groeningen | Stars: Steve Carell, Maura Tierney, Jack Dylan Grazer, Oakley Bull

Votes: 99,743 | Gross: $7.65M

5. The Switch (I) (2010)

PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

52 Metascore

Seven years after the fact, a man comes to the realization that he was the sperm donor for his best friend's boy.

Directors: Josh Gordon, Will Speck | Stars: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum

Votes: 112,360 | Gross: $27.76M

6. Steve Jobs (2015)

R | 122 min | Biography, Drama

82 Metascore

Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution, to paint a portrait of the man at its epicenter. The story unfolds backstage at three iconic product launches, ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac.

Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels

Votes: 178,603 | Gross: $17.77M

7. Fanny and Alexander (1982)

R | 188 min | Drama

100 Metascore

Two young Swedish children in the 1900s experience the many comedies and tragedies of their lively and affectionate theatrical family, the Ekdahls.

Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Bertil Guve, Pernilla Allwin, Kristina Adolphson, Börje Ahlstedt

Votes: 67,515 | Gross: $4.97M

8. Catch Me If You Can (2002)

PG-13 | 141 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

75 Metascore

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: 1,096,307 | Gross: $164.62M

9. Parenthood (1989)

PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama

82 Metascore

Four Buckman siblings attempt to raise their children - each in their own different style - and deal with the joys and sorrows that the process brings.

Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest, Jason Robards

Votes: 54,903 | Gross: $100.05M

10. Charlie Bartlett (2007)

R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

54 Metascore

A rich kid becomes the self-appointed psychiatrist to the student body of his new high school.

Director: Jon Poll | Stars: Anton Yelchin, Robert Downey Jr., Hope Davis, Kat Dennings

Votes: 66,707 | Gross: $3.95M

11. Begin Again (II) (2013)

R | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Music

62 Metascore

A chance encounter between a down-and-out music business executive, and a young singer songwriter new to Manhattan, turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents.

Director: John Carney | Stars: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine, Hailee Steinfeld

Votes: 166,993 | Gross: $16.17M

12. Thanks for Sharing (2012)

R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

54 Metascore

A romantic comedy that brings together three disparate characters who are learning to face a challenging and often confusing world as they struggle together against a common demon: sex addiction.

Director: Stuart Blumberg | Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad

Votes: 29,538 | Gross: $1.06M

13. The Breakfast Club (1985)

R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama

66 Metascore

Five high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought.

Director: John Hughes | Stars: Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy

Votes: 436,717 | Gross: $45.88M

14. Rain Man (1988)

R | 133 min | Drama

65 Metascore

After a selfish L.A. yuppie learns his estranged father left a fortune to an autistic-savant brother in Ohio that he didn't know existed, he absconds with his brother and sets out across the country, hoping to gain a larger inheritance.

Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen

Votes: 546,798 | Gross: $178.80M

15. The Squid and the Whale (2005)

R | 81 min | Comedy, Drama

82 Metascore

Follows two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.

Director: Noah Baumbach | Stars: Owen Kline, Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg

Votes: 90,459 | Gross: $7.36M

16. Basil (1998)

R | 113 min | Drama, Romance

A lonely young aristocrat in turn-of the century England stuggles to meet the approval of his over-bearing, class-conscious father while trying to please the selfish woman he loves.

Director: Radha Bharadwaj | Stars: Christian Slater, Jared Leto, Claire Forlani, Derek Jacobi

Votes: 2,103

17. Heathers (1988)

R | 103 min | Comedy, Crime

72 Metascore

At Westerburg High where cliques rule, jocks dominate and all the popular girls are named Heather, it's going to take a Veronica and mysterious new kid to give teen angst a body count.

Director: Michael Lehmann | Stars: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk

Votes: 115,921 | Gross: $1.11M

18. Ad Astra (2019)

PG-13 | 123 min | Adventure, Drama, Mystery

80 Metascore

Astronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.

Director: James Gray | Stars: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga, Donald Sutherland

Votes: 260,568 | Gross: $50.19M

19. Meet Joe Black (1998)

PG-13 | 178 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

43 Metascore

Death, who takes the form of a young man killed in an accident, asks a media mogul to act as his guide to teach him about life on Earth and, in the process, he falls in love with the mogul's daughter.

Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani, Jake Weber

Votes: 264,943 | Gross: $44.62M

20. Manchester by the Sea (2016)

R | 137 min | Drama

96 Metascore

A depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.

Director: Kenneth Lonergan | Stars: Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges

Votes: 313,944 | Gross: $47.70M

21. The Butterfly Effect (2004)

R | 113 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

30 Metascore

Evan Treborn suffers blackouts during significant events of his life. As he grows up, he finds a way to remember these lost memories and a supernatural way to alter his life by reading his journal.

Directors: Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber | Stars: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Melora Walters, Elden Henson

Votes: 521,338 | Gross: $57.94M

22. The Tender Bar (2021)

R | 106 min | Biography, Drama

53 Metascore

A boy growing up on Long Island seeks out father figures among the patrons at his uncle's bar.

Director: George Clooney | Stars: Ben Affleck, Tye Sheridan, Daniel Ranieri, Lily Rabe

Votes: 33,842

23. The Game (1997)

R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

63 Metascore

After a wealthy San Francisco banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down as he begins to question if it might really be a concealed conspiracy to destroy him.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn

Votes: 429,606 | Gross: $48.32M

24. Solitary Man (2009)

R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

69 Metascore

A car magnate watches his personal and professional life hit the skids because of his business and romantic indiscretions.

Directors: Brian Koppelman, David Levien | Stars: Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Jesse Eisenberg, Danny DeVito

Votes: 17,119 | Gross: $4.36M

25. Spider-Man (2002)

PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

73 Metascore

After being bitten by a genetically-modified spider, a shy teenager gains spider-like abilities that he uses to fight injustice as a masked superhero and face a vengeful enemy.

Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, James Franco

Votes: 880,192 | Gross: $403.71M

26. Love & Mercy (2014)

PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama, Music

80 Metascore

In the 60s, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson struggles with emerging psychosis as he attempts to craft his avant-garde pop masterpiece. In the 80s, he's a broken, confused man under the 24-hour watch of shady therapist, Dr. Eugene Landy.

Director: Bill Pohlad | Stars: John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti

Votes: 42,622 | Gross: $12.55M

27. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama

76 Metascore

The eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.

Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller

Votes: 313,281 | Gross: $52.36M

28. Like Father (2018)

TV-MA | 98 min | Comedy, Drama

52 Metascore

After she's left at the altar, a workaholic advertising executive ends up on her Caribbean honeymoon cruise with her estranged father.

Director: Lauren Miller Rogen | Stars: Kristen Bell, Danielle Davenport, Kimiko Glenn, Wynter Kullman

Votes: 23,092

29. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

PG | 109 min | Biography, Drama

80 Metascore

Based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Lloyd Vogel.

Director: Marielle Heller | Stars: Matthew Rhys, Tom Hanks, Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson

Votes: 88,785 | Gross: $61.70M



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