Dad (1989)

While his mom recovers in hospital from a heart attack, John puts his busy life on hold to fly home and help his elderly dad around the house. John's son later joins them and they all truly bond for the first and, tragically, final time.

Director:

Gary David Goldberg

Writers:

William Wharton (novel), Gary David Goldberg (screenplay)

Stars:

Jack Lemmon, Ted Danson, Olympia Dukakis

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Lemmon	...	Jake Tremont
Ted Danson	...	John Tremont
Olympia Dukakis	...	Bette Tremont
Kathy Baker	...	Annie
Kevin Spacey	...	Mario
Ethan Hawke	...	Billy
Zakes Mokae	...	Dr. Chad
J.T. Walsh	...	Dr. Santana
Peter Michael Goetz	...	Dr. Ethridge
John Apicella	...	Dr. Delibro
Richard McGonagle	...	Victor Walton
Bill Morey	...	Hal McCarthy
Mary Fogarty	...	Gloria McCarthy (as Mary Fogerty)
Art Frankel	...	DMV Instructor
Ray Girardin	...	Butcher

Storyline

John, a busy, "always-on-the-run" executive, learns during a meeting that his mother may be dying and rushes home to her side. He ends up being his father's caretaker and becomes closer to him than ever before. In the process, he teaches his father to be more independent which causes problems with the man's wife. Estranged from his own son, the executive comes to realize what has been missing in his own life. As John, his father and his son slowly bond, and even his mother returns from the hospital, everything starts seeming right with the world - until dad goes to have a minor surgery only to come out of it demented and a shadow of his former self.

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Plot Keywords:

heart attack | playing catch | coma | delusion | terminal illness | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes the greatest man you ever meet... is the first one.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of two 1989 cinema movies starring actor Ethan Hawke which were first released in that year. The pictures are Dad (1989) and Dead Poets Society_.

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Goofs

When Jake and John drive through the parking lot and stop to talk, John parks in front of two large trees, one directly in front of the car. The inside shot from the back seat has no tree visible through the windshield.

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Quotes

Mario: Come on, Mom, get in the hearse.
Bette Tremont: You'd like that, wouldn't you?
Mario: I'm sorry, it was a slip of the tongue.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: The Marrying Man/Career Opportunities/The Five Heartbeats/The Object of Beauty/Daddy Nostalgia (1991)

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Soundtracks

Nice Dreams
Written by Joel DuBay, Jeffrey Litke & Adrian Liberty
Performed by Powermad
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
by Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

This is one film that is a MUST-SEE!

It is very rare that I give any film 10/10 but then it is very rare that I see a film that deserves it. This is one film that truly deserves it. the huge names that fill the main roles play their parts perfectly. I was surprised that neither this film nor the anyone in either the main two roles or the supporting roles was up for an academy award because they all should have been in my opinion. OK so maybe not all, but certainly somewhere along the line one ore more of the aforementioned list should have been This film was extremely heart-warming and tugged at the heart-strings in equal measures.

Ted Danson plays a man called John Tremont who rearranges his life when his mother, Bette, (his father, Jake, has allowed her to do virtually everything for him. He has therefore had his self-esteem whittled away over the last fifty years or more that they have been married including not having a lot of fun and driving him everywhere)has a heart-attack in a supermarket. Suddenly the high-powered business man has to find his relationship with his father again and he does this by giving back to him what is missing from his life. The bond they end up with is extremely strong. So much so that he stays with his father the whole time when he, after his mother gets well and comes out of hospital, ends up in hospital himself.

The supporting cast are just as good. You know instantly that daughter Annie is the one that normally looks after her elderly parents while John does the high-flying businessman bit only to then take more of a back-seat role when John rearranges his life. Mario, the third sibling, cannot be there to help as much as he would like due to living so far away does return to the family when there is need for him to do so. And then there is Billy who is obviously more attached to his Grandfather than his father This is a film that HAS to be seen.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dad

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$540,148, 29 October 1989

Gross USA:

$22,103,037

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$29,237,250

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amblin Entertainment, Ubu Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1