The Greatest Movie Dads - Part 2

The written-under-duress edition.

Note - By and large, I was allowed to do what I wanted to do at Empire. However, every once in a while, I was asked to draw inside the lines. This was one such occasion.

Giuseppe Conlon (In The Name Of The Father, 1993)
Jim Sheridan’s film doesn’t pay much attention to the facts surrounding the Guildford Four’s ‘convictions’. Giuseppe (Pete Postlethwaite) certainly seems too good to be true. While his son Gerry (Daniel Day-Lewis) gets in with the wrong crowd, Conlon Sr quietly petitions for his freedom, all the while keeping the door open for his wayward offspring. All this and he fights terminal illness with quiet dignity. If only he had a lightsaber, he might be the best movie dad ever.

Ed Bloom (Big Fish, 2003)
Dads tell terrible lies. (“You’ll die if you drink milk and orange juice in the same hour”; “When the ice-cream truck’s playing music, that means they’re all out of ice-cream.”) With cinema being that bit bigger than everyday life, it’s fitting that Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) should tell a better class of fib. From befriending giants to catching the titular whopper - Ed’s done it all. Or, at least, that’s what he claims. No doubt a royal pain the arse to live with, you have to admit the old man would be good fun in the pub. And whatever his sins, he’s a darn sight more fun than dull son, Will (Billy Crudup).