Dad
by Gary David Goldberg
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Actor: Jack Lemmon, Kathy Baker, Kevin Spacey, Olympia Dukakis, Ted DansonDirector: Gary David Goldberg
Brand: Universal Studios
Producer: Gary David Goldberg
Writer: Gary David Goldberg
Producer: Frank Marshall
Producer: Joseph Stern
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy
Producer: Ric Kidney
Writer: William Wharton
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 117 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-31
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Dad
DVD Review: Has some powerful moments, but also some false ones that jar
Summary: 3 Stars
While there are some moments of emotional power in this movie, too much of it is simply jarring and unrealistic in ways that make us realize we are simply watching a movie with scenes that someone thought would be good and give the actors their turn at doing something dramatic rather than allow us to pretend we are watching real people. When the elderly parents in this film (Jack Lemmon and Olympia Dukakis playing Jack and Bette Tremont) are in the grocery store, we get a real insight into the current state of their marriage. When she has the heart attack while shopping, it is very moving and involves us very much. Ted Danson's opening scene as the big time investment banker is also quite believable and he plays the cool and almost emotionless businessman very well. He is elegant, suave, understated, and handsome. This was the peak of Danson's early fame from Cheers.
We think we are going to see a movie of a senile and frail widower drawing in his children to care for him and see how they respond. Instead, she recovers and it is Dad that is diagnosed with terminal cancer and it is the story how the family responds to that crisis which becomes the story. The problem is that it goes off the rails. Danson doesn't really have the ability to convey deep internal crisis on film so they have to give him a bold gesture. Here it is carrying is post-operative father from the hospital. Right. Have you every seen how tender and fragile someone, particularly an elderly person is, after major surgery. There might be a way to get him out, but being carried in your arms is not one of them.
There are other false notes as well. Olympia Dukakis is a fine actress, but the scene where she loses it at the dinner table plays too much as her turn to chew scenery than as something that would actually happen as it is played out in the film. What she is feeling and what she says all make sense, but would be better played in another way and in another setting.
When Dad finally does die, it is off screen, but the last scene of Danson and Lemmon together is quite good and credit should be given for how well they play that. However, the last scenes of the family carrying on after the funeral do not ring true. Everyone would be more wrung out and emotionally spent. Everyone in the movie is about six months early in how they would react alone or together. Immediately after the death and funeral things are much more raw rather than as portrayed in this film. At least, that has been my experience with the death of parents and loved ones.
Anyway, while not a bad film, this kind of thing was done better in another less than perfect, but much better film with Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason, "Nothing In Common" from 1986. So, I would rather see that film. However, if you are a Ted Danson fan, then this is a movie with him on the screen a lot and about as close as he gets to drama.
Description of Dad
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