I've talked about it once before on this site, but I will pump it again: Filmspotting is the best podcast on the web, about movies or anything else, and I truly love the show. Listening to Adam and Matty, the two hosts, talk about films they love every week has helped reinvigorate my love of movies, so their show is definitely a direct influence on me finally starting this site. Each week they do a Top 5 category to end the show; this week was Top 5 Screen Dad's in honor of Father's Day. Below is the feedback I sent to them following the show, about one of the best overlooked scenes in any film:
I want to say that I loved the show this week and thought all of your Top 5 Dads were spot on. I didn't expect this one to make either of your lists, and I completely understand why. However, it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the Top 5 category, and will always hold a special place in my heart:
You are back from college visiting your family. Your brother, a lost, if good natured soul, is back as well. Your father has raised both of you well, and you know how much it means to him to have his boys home. He takes complete pride in you - your scholastic accomplishments and the man you have become. He also can't resist the charm of your brother - nobody can, including you.
Your father raised you and your brother as fisherman, so you all wake up early to go fishing with your father. Each of you move off into different areas of the river, casting your flies, perfecting the knowledge your father imparted in you. At one point you, and your father, realize that your brother has moved so far past your skill in fishing that he isn't fishing anymore, he is creating art. Not a lot is said that day, but all three of you know it will be a day your father cherishes for life.
At the end, everyone returns, and showing their catch, basking in the love that only family can share. Your father is utterly happy, and while you wish to tell him, in words, how much you appreciate everything he taught you growing up, you know that this day, this act of fishing, is a more truthful reminder of how great a dad he was than any words you could ever say.
Right there, this would be one of my favorite dad scenes in any movie, but we aren't done. As you and your brother each lay your best catch next to each other, they are both equal, and your Dad says, happily "They are both marvelous." He squats down, as if to admire your work more closely. "The Lord has blessed us all today . . . " as he flops a much larger fish down next to yours and your brother's, then gets up to walk away, " . . . Its just that he has been particularly good to me." You both stare, with a smile, as he walks away, laughing to himself in the warm afternoon sun.
That scene is a perfect summation of father-son-brother love for me. I want to share that scene with my dad and family. I hope, someday, to be blessed with the ability to share that scene with my kids. That unspoken love and happiness is great, but what dad, anywhere, could resist getting one over on his sons. Sure, you might be smarter, stronger, better, faster, and younger, but I still got it!
It might be unfair to list Reverend Maclean from A River Runs Through It, because Tom Skerritt, in one of my favorite performances ever, plays a real person. Not just that, he plays Norman Maclean's father, from a script that closely follows Norm Macleans own words, and nobody has ever been able to express true family emotion as simply, and accurately, as Norman Maclean. A River Runs Through It is one of my favorite stories ever, and its my favorite Robert Redford film (I think Quiz Show is his best). Its not a perfect movie, but the relationships between Norman, his father, and his brother, are some of the most honestly realized relationships I think I have seen in a film.
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