Father Knows Best: Lessons Learned from Movie Dads

We love our fathers, and not just because they sired us into this world, but because they taught us many valuable lessons needed to succeed in life. We’ve compiled a list of our favorite movies in which fathers bestow their children with important life lessons. 

Krypton native Kal-El/Clark Kent doesn't just have one dad to learn from. His adoptive human father instills in him a strong moral compass to accompany the super-strength inherited from his birth father. Using the lessons he’s learned from both, Superman resolves to use his abilities for the benefit of humanity. Thanks, dads!
Dad Says: A strong heart is greater than a strong body.

Starring real life father-and-son acting duo Will and Jaden Smith, After Earth finds the pair crash-landed on a dangerously evolved Planet Earth. With Pops badly injured, it’s up to his son to traverse the hostile terrain to recover the rescue beacon that can save them. In order to do this, father must put faith in his son and help guide him through the terrifying landscape.
Dad Says: Danger is real, fear is a choice.

Sean Connery may only be 10 years Harrison Ford’s senior in real life, but he still played a very convincing Dr. Henry Jones Sr. in The Last Crusade. When he goes missing while researching the location of an ancient relic, it’s up to Indy to find his father so that the two can unlock the secret of the Grail and defeat the Nazis. You know, everyday father and son stuff.
Dad Says: A father’s love is worth more than the Holy Grail.

After being forced into early superhero retirement, Mr. Incredible works a dead-end job he hates so that he can support and protect his gifted family living undercover as ordinary civilians. Forced back into action to save the world, Mr. Incredible learns that fighting alongside his family, rather than constantly protecting them, will bring them closer than ever.
Dad Says: The family that fights together sticks together.

Every father wants to make sure that his little girl is prepared to take on the world, but Damon Macready (aka Big Daddy) takes things to the next level as he trains his 11-year-old daughter in the art of taking names and kicking ass with high-powered weapons and lethal kicks to the groin. Parents, we're pretty sure you know training your child to be a ruthless vigilante is badass, but karate lessons will suffice.
Dad Says: Self-defense is important.

When his daughter is kidnapped, ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills promises the kidnappers that if they do not let her go, he will find them and he will kill them. The kidnappers ignore this threat and Mr. Mills keeps his word by using a very particular set of skills. Skills he acquired over a very long career; skills that make him a nightmare for his daughter's kidnappers. Oh yeah, Mills' gotz the skillz to killz.
Dad Says: You're only as good as your word.

In 2006 the Smiths starred in Pursuit of Happyness, an uplifting and inspirational film about single dad Chris Gardner (poppa Smith) living on the streets with his son (baby Smith). Realizing that living on the streets sucks and determined to make a better life for his son, Gardner works his way up from unpaid intern to powerful stockbroker. Based on a true story, this touching tale of perseverance is one to watch with Dad.
Dad Says: Never stop trying.

Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) has a knack for storytelling, so much so that his only son, Will (Billy Crudup), has never been able to fully trust him. When his father’s health fails, Will rushes to his bedside to try to mend their relationship and discovers that the stories his father told, while exaggerated, are rooted in reality. Finally able to understand and forgive, Will helps his father drift into the eternal land of fables.
Dad Says: Dream big.

Daniel Hillard is an eccentric actor who, after a bitter divorce, loses custody of his beloved children. Determined to spend as much time with them as he possibly can, he dons hair, makeup and costume as Mrs. Doubtfire, an elderly woman his ex hires to watch the kids while she's working. Seeing Robin Williams in drag is classic, but it’s the heart-warming story of a father’s love that makes it so endearing.
Dad Says: Be there for each other, no matter what.

Sam’s father mysteriously disappeared in 1989, so when he receives a message originating from his dad’s boarded-up arcade, he goes to investigate. Once inside, Sam is transported to “The Grid,” where his father has been stuck for the past 20 years. Together, father and son must team up to defeat a malevolent computer program hell-bent on invading the human world.
Dad Says: Video games are good bonding time.

When little Nemo is scooped out of the ocean and taken to an aquarium in Sydney, his distraught father, Marlin, combs the sea to find him. Facing off against sharks, traversing jellyfish minefields, and dealing with delightfully delusional fish along the way, Marlin makes it to Sydney Harbor to rescue his son. In rescuing him he sees that Nemo has grown to be able to solve problems on his own.
Dad Says: Just keep swimming.

Typically, fathers aren’t too ecstatic to hear their teenage daughters are pregnant, but it’s how they respond to that news that matters. When Juno (Ellen Page) tells her parents that she’s expecting, they choose to support their daughter. Her father (J.K. Simmons) offers these words of paternal wisdom: “The best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are.”
Dad Says: Find a person who loves you for you.

Young Simba just can’t wait to be king, but he has a few lessons to learn first. Attempting to emulate his father’s bravery, Simba deliberately brings his friends to a forbidden part of the kingdom, where they almost become cub-sandwiches. Dad arrives just in time, teaching Simba a valuable lesson that being brave doesn't mean being foolish.
Dad Says: Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble.

Ok, so “the talk” is always an awkward conversation, but the conversation stands to be most awkward if spurred by your father walking in on you sexually assaulting an apple pie. American Pie is chalk full of hilariously uncomfortable conversations between Jim and his infamous dad as he attempts to lose his virginity. Father knows best?
Dad Says: The birds and the bees.

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