Dad | | Cast : | Jack Lemmon, Ted Danson | | Director : | Gary David Goldberg | | Studio : | Universal Studios Ho | | Format : | Color | | Released Date : | October 27, 1989 | | DVD Released Date : | May 31, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | November 29, 2004 | | Summary | If this one doesn't touch you... | Content
 | You're pure ice. The film, while admittedly not ringing true in spots via dialogue or circumstance, is nonetheless engaging, touching, and emotionally draining. Some of the points it touches on are so dead-on it's scary. Acting-wise, it's Ted Danson's high point. He'll likely never top this performance, but it's enough to leave the world even if he leaves acting tomorrow. Lemmon and Dukakis are tremendous. YOu've read the plot in other reviews; just see it and get ready for an emotional jolt. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 09, 2003 | | Summary | Emotional Blackmail | Content
| Couples who live in retirement often undergo a role-reversal. The wife becomes the dominating partner since housekeeping was always her domain. The marriage of Jake (Jack Lemmon) and Bette Tremont (Olympia Dukakis) developed nearly into a mother-child relationship. She takes every responsibility off his shoulders and when she suffers a heart-attack their son John (Ted Danson) realizes how helpless his father has become. He tries to make him understand that his mother needs rest: homework is now his task. Those sensible activities are conductive to Jake's mind and body. He surprises his big-boss son with his common sense and even passes his driving-test. But Jake is diagnosed with cancer - the disease he fears most. He is seized by panic and suffers a shock: a form of senility that comes and goes. John blames the doctors whose commitment leave much to be desired. When he discovers his father tied up to his chair he takes him (freshly operated!) out of hospital to nurse him at home - perhaps the most dangerous "rescue-operation" in film history. He is completely overcharged, of course. His father is dazed, hides under the bed and struggles against his son who finally gives up. Just when John despairs of his father's recovery Jake wakes up. Good medication or solicitude? He enjoys his new life to the full, dresses up to the nines, plays golf and learns japanese. But his wife is alarmed at his sex-drive and she feels exposed to ridicule in front of the neighbors. Since she remains uncooperative Jake retires in his own dream-world where he creates a new family: a successful schizophrenic. During an argument John tells his mother: "He wants his life back!". The reconciliation gives Jake strength when the cancer recurs... A travesty of William Wharton's novel and perhaps the most dishonest film ever made. Jake is portrayed as charming and docile baby. Neither does this film reveal the pitiable effects that diseases like alzheimer or dementia can have on a person's moral strength, nor does it show the extent of the distress and the helplessness of the relatives. Wharton described in agonizing detail how the son labored in vain for a father who lost control over his bodily funcions, and how trying it is for the son when the father uses vulgarisms and pesters him with the demand to sleep with his (convalescent) wife. They could not film this, of course, but exactly this is often the #1 problem of the families, a cause for shame and isolation. Danson hits exactly the right phony-cheerful tone and Dukakis is perfect as the adamant wife - even if means playing against the lines of Hollywood's scriptwriters. Jack Lemmon gives the kind of bad performance that only a good and honorable actor can give: His attempts to save a role that cannot be saved are so over-zealous that they border on (pardon!) artistic prostitution. DAD was produced by Steven Spielberg: pretty shots and pretty music...The film minimizes the duties of those who nurse ailing persons and belittles their efforts. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 03, 2003 | | Summary | watched in Health Class | Content
| I watched this movie in health class during a unit on ageing. The movies was very touching, and turned the whole class to tears. But, it was a great movie that was very touching, and I would suggest watching it. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 17, 2002 | | Summary | Realistic, Funny, and Sad | Content
| I saw this movie on Father's Day. I think Jack lemmon should have received an award for this movie. Excellent supporting actors too. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a good family movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 27, 2001 | | Summary | Definitely One of My Favorite Movies | Content
| "Dad" is definitely one of the most touching movies I have ever seen. I have seen this movie several times, and every time I cry at the end! The son lives far away and is so obsessed with work that he has not been home to see his elderly parents much in recent years. When his mother is unexpectedly taken ill, he comes home and is shocked to see how his father has gone down under the overprotective eye of his domineering mother. John, the son, starts teaching his father to be independent, at the same time rebuilding a good quality relationship with him. It is so touching later in the movie when his dad becomes ill and John dotes over him and refuses to give up. This also inspires John to build a relationship with his own son. I can relate to this story, as can anyone who has dealt with the illness and/or death of aging parents. I would recommend this movie to anyone, especially anyone who has dealt or is now having to deal with the aging and/or death of a parent. This movie puts a lot of things into perspective about aged parents and with dealing with the illness and death of a parent. |
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