5.         Hook              
Not the best movie, but a great Father’s Day movie. I saw this movie with my children years ago when they were young and I was just younger.  There’s a scene in the middle of the movie that all fathers should watch.  Peter Banning (Robin Williams), nee Peter Pan (Robin Williams, later in a Peter Pan outfit complete with green tights), is now a corporate lawyer neglecting his children and taking calls on one of the largest cell phones ever made.  His wife throws the phone out the window.  Moira Banning, played by Caroline Goodall, tells/yells to him that he only gets a few years and he’s missing them.  That one day, his children won’t want him around, won’t want to talk to him and will be going their own way.  She’s right.  They are great years.  Nothing is worth missing them.  I remember watching my sons play lacrosse and soccer.   Those were the greatest moments of my life.  Now, 17 and 18, those times will never come again.  New experiences yes…but not those.  Don’t miss yours.

4.         In the Name of the Father     
This is salute to my law partner and dear friend Rob Galvin.  He’s repeatedly mentioned this movie as one of his favorites and this is truly one great movie and one great Father’s Day movie.  The movie stars Pete Postlewait (Oscar nominated for this role) and Daniel Day Lewis (Oscar nominated for this role and many others, the Meryl Streep of male actors) in this adaptation of a true story of the Guilford Four who were accused of being IRA terrorists in the bombing of a London pub.  Gerry Conlin’s (Lewis) father, Guisseppe (Postlewait), is also accused due to draconian terrorist laws suspending civil liberties (sound familiar?) and both are imprisoned together.  Being imprisoned together changes Gerry’s impression of his father and Guisseppe eventually secures Gerry’s release even though he himself dies in prison.

3.         Liar, Liar        
Jim Carrey star as Fletcher Reed, a lawyer who, because of the birthday wish of his neglected son, Max, cannot tell a lie for 24 hours.  There are two thoughts I have to this movie.  First, nothing is more important in our lives than our children.  Not work, not being upset at the other parent, not friends, nothing is worth missing out on the few precious years a parent has with their children.

2.         Field of Dreams         

One of my favorite movies.  I actually saw this movie at a theater with my Father in Baltimore, Md.  Though the focus is baseball, it is actually one of the best father-son movies ever made.  Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner back when he did good movies) makes amends for saying things he regrets to his father John Kinsella (Dwier Brown).  Sure he has to build a baseball field in his cornfield, travel to Boston and kidnap a reclusive novelist, and travel to Minnesota to find a long-dead doctor.  All of this culminates in a great ending and every son’s endeavor; playing a game of catch with his father.  Nothing legal here but a kidnapping and a possible foreclosure.

1.         Return of the Jedi      

Not a legal movie unless you count Luke’s appearance before the emperor and Darth Vader as a trial of sorts.  But Darth Vader, having revealed himself to be Luke’s father in Empire Strikes Back wants to establish a father-son bond by having Luke join him by going to the Dark Side.  Luke doesn’t want to enter the family business of reigning over the galaxy and they attempt to resolve their differences of opinion in Luke’s career choice by having a duel to the death.  Father and son in the course of their family infighting manage to chop each other’s hand off (Luke’s was chopped off in Empire).   If only Darth had realized the truth about children.  You can’t turn them to the Dark Side.  They won’t listen to you.

HONORABLE MENTION

The Sopranos             
Tony, Tony, Tony.  I watch him and I don’t feel so bad about my failures as a husband and a father.  I also understand the anxiety of balancing work and family.

The Godfather                       

My father bought me a gun when I was 12 and told me not to shoot anyone.  (interestingly enough, he never said anything about me shooting myself)  Vito Corleone bought his children guns and told them to shoot everybody.  Fredo notwithstanding, Sonny and Michael took the fatherly advice to heart.

Big Fish          
Great movie.  Not sure why it’s not on the list other than no lawyer or legal hook to it.  Watch it.  Saw it with my father a couple of years ago.  I got the feeling he was remembering his father while I applied the movie to him. 

Big Daddy     

Yes, it stars Adam Sandler.  It also has a ridiculous courtroom scene but it does show that being present at the moment of conception does not make a father.  It’s what a man does every year, every month, every week, and every day afterwards that truly makes a man a father.

A Time to Kill            
Father kills the men accused of raping his daughter.  Reminds me of an argument a lawyer made in Court about a father being protective.  Also has a stupid scene with Sandra Bollock in a mini skirt sneaking into a doctor’s office to steal records.  Why didn’t they just ask for discovery?

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade              
I really related to this movie.  No matter what you accomplish, no matter how many children you raise, no matter what businesses you build, no matter how many degrees you earn…your father will continue to criticize you.