Wick's 5 Flicks for Father's Day (5)





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Created Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST • Updated Aug 24, 2013 12:32PM PST

Looking for a Father’s Day Movie?

Paternal relationships loom large in each of these. Elderly fathers, substitute fathers and flawed fathers — all ring true and are sure to trigger nods, winks and a few laughs.

Father’s Day is Sunday, June 16 this year. Plenty of time to pick up a movie. Even better, stream one from Apple or Amazon. No muss, no fuss. Just right for a Dad.

Happy Father’s Day from ViewGuide! Like this list? Like us on Facebook. Thank you.

Average

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  • 77 Points
Title Released Trust Weighted Summary Viewable
1st Robot & Frank
2012 Very Good 66 Points

Anyone who's dealt with an elderly parent will be charmed by Robot & Frank, a gentle and deft SciFi comedy. Perhaps the best Alzheimer's movie yet, though the A Word is never mentioned, it carries an emotional kick that leavens it in the end, elevating it to more than just a lark.

The great actor Frank Langella is the Frank of the title, a Luddite living out his senior years when robots are the new caretakers. Oh yeah, he's also an unreformed jewel thief who begins to appreciate his inhuman aide when he realizes it can help him pull a job or two. His grown kids and folks around to…

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Added Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST • Updated Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST
2nd Secondhand Lions
2003 Very Good 66 Points

Great-uncles lead to great adventure for a boy in need of a loving home. Some have put down this movie as sentimental and bland, but I found it wry and satisfying. Especially for boys and men, the resonance runs deep. Come to think of it, it would be the perfect movie to watch on Father's Day, even though it's primarily about a fatherless boy and his uncles.

It helps that the three leads are among the best actors of their generations: Robert Duvall and Michael Caine as the eccentric great-uncles, and Haley Joel Osment as the nephew who brings out the best in them.

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Added Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST • Updated Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST
3rd Smart People
2008 Great 82 Points

Very funny ensemble piece about a man and his family struggling to move beyond the long-ago death of his wife, Smart People deftly skewers the low EQ of some high IQ people.1

Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker are perfectly serviceable in not very likable roles. Good thing Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page provide more than enough humor and charisma to carry the movie.
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1 Emotional intelligence trumps traditional smarts most days of the week, and every weekend.

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Added Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST • Updated Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST
4th Win Win
2011 Really Great 88 Points

Win Win has become such a cliche, yet is anything but in the entirely winning movie of that title. Cleverly mining today's uneven economy, the uneasy equality of modern marriages, the unjust world of neglected kids, and not least, the under-appreciated sport of high school wrestling, Win Win proves unerringly uplifting, a minor-key classic even.

Unassuming and real, notwithstanding occasional broad humor, Win Win packs more emotional honesty than any ten chick flicks. Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan's marriage, complete with three kids, a failing business, ethical lapses, an unanticip…

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Added Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST • Updated Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST
5th More Than a Game
2008 Really Great 83 Points

Ain't no better basketball movie than this boys-to-men documentary about LeBron James and his brothers-in-hoops. Even better, More Than a Game can be enjoyed equally well by non-basketball fans because it's also a brilliant and touching portrait of half a dozen contemporary African-American males.

Part of its brilliance is that King James – the superstar LeBron became – commands no more than a fair share of screen time, his story being intertwined and equally compelling as those of his teammates and their coach. Another part of its brilliance however is the phenomenon that is LeBron

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Added Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST • Updated Jun 04, 2013 11:14PM PST

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