If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Gary Goldberg's Dad only got Oscar recognition with a nomination for makeup. Surely deserved in the way Jack Lemmon was transformed into a henpecked old codger. But surely Lemmon and Ted Danson playing his son merited some Oscar consideration in 1989. So does Olympia Dukakis playing the mother.Dad is a wonderful study of the issues in being a senior citizen and now that I am one can appreciate more now than in 1989 when it first came out. From the first you see that it's Dukakis wearing the pants in the family as they go grocery shopping. But when Olympia has a heart attack in the supermarket, Lemmon is kind of left to his own devices.The children, Kathy Baker and Kevin Spacey, help to some degree. But it's there third brother who works for an investment firm who really pitches in. Ted Danson is a kind of Gordon Gekko of the West Coast, but as he pitches in and helps the two really connect and reestablish a relationship. I did love the scene where Lemmon just sits in on a board meeting comprehending more than Danson realizes about what he does for a living.Ever since Lemmon retired from Lockheed years it's Dukakis who has become the dominant one. No longer earning and kind of under foot he becomes just an appendage. She treats him like a child.Soon enough the roles are reversed. She comes home and he's diagnosed with cancer. The family then goes into crisis mode.Dad has a nice constructed story with very well developed characters with the exception of Kevin Spacey who is given little to do with his role. Ethan Hawke is also in the film as Danson's son who has always had a great relationship with his grandfather. Jack Lemmon was 66 when he made the film. But with makeup he looks more 86 and really makes you believe it in his performance. A whole lot like his buddy Walter Matthau when he starred in Kotch.Dad is a wonderful film for the family about a family named Tremont.

I bought this VHS movie on sale for $5.00 along with other movies back in 2003. The first time I watched it, I couldn't stop crying. I would watch the movie at least once or twice a month. It didn't matter how many times I would watch it, either alone, or with my kids, each time it was as if I was watching it for the very first time. The comedy and drama of the story intertwined so well throughout the movie by the excellent actors and actresses. I loved how the movie touched on the various age groups of the family members and the challenges and humps they overcame throughout.I will ALWAYS promote this movie!

This 1989 drama would have been even more effective had it dealt with the inadequacies of a hospital. It appeared to be going that way when Jack Lemmon, as an aged parent, goes into shock following cancer surgery and the hospital is ready to discharge him.Lemmon gave another strong performance in his versatile career. The problem here is that the performance became lopsided somewhat when the focus of the picture changes to the idea that Lemmon, who comes out of a coma, has been hallucinating for all these years thinking that he has had an alternate life in New Jersey.Olympia Dukakis stars as his elderly wife who just can't take his discussion of this life and in one scene, the emotional outburst between her and loving son, a very good Ted Danson, is truly memorable. Kathy Baker is wasted as Danson's divorced wife. The way the two acted towards each other, you are left wondering why they divorced to begin with. Ethan Hawke is quite impressive as Danson's young son.The film regains its quality when the cancer returns but seems to jump rapidly to Lemmon's demise and Danson taking leave of the family. Why was all this rushed up?

I'll just say that I recently saw this movie for the first time, and loved it. it's a little dated, but still good and the story overall is timeless as it relates to the love between fathers and their sons. I highly recommend checking it out. But be warned though it's a bit of a tear jerker, and also feels a little drawn out in certain areas. I give it a nine out of ten.I particularly liked the ending where Ted Denson and his son make up and try and avoid the distance in relationship that Denson kind of had with his father played by Jack Lemmon. The cast all gives an amazing performance and I'm surprised this movie didn't make bigger waves when it initially came out its fantastic.