FROM HERE TO PATERNITY
Dads celebrates the infinite varieties of fatherhood
Given the connections to fame of filmmaker Bryce Dallas Howard — third-generation Hollywood royalty, star of the Jurassic
World franchise, director of an episode of The Mandalorian — I thought her documentary Dads would be full of famous fathers. And it is, with witty comments on paternity from the likes of Conan O’brien, Hasan Minhaj, Neil Patrick Harris, Will Smith and others.
But the meat of this nearly 90-minute film about fatherhood focuses on five dads you probably don’t know.
One is a stay-at-home dad in Tokyo who almost committed suicide when he learned that an illness would prevent him from being the breadwinner. One — actually two — are a white samesex couple who adopted four black children over a six-month period.
There’s a single father, himself the son of an absentee dad; a father whose son has multiple health issues; and a San Diego daddy blogger.
Their stories will likely move you to tears — one of the film’s underlying messages seems to be that it’s OK for dads to cry — but they also illustrate just how many ways there are to be a great dad. Whether you lacked a role model, had a bad one or think you’ll never surpass your own dad’s awesomeness, there’s a way forward.
The film’s poster says it all:
“You got this. Even when you don’t.”
There’s a great story near the end about how Ron Howard’s dad Rance argued that young Ron’s role of Opie on The Andy
Griffith Show should be written as less of a smart aleck. “He’s going to get laughs, but it’s going to be very damning to any relationship that he might have with his father,” Rance told the producers, who took his advice to heart.
There are also a lot of funny lines from the celebrity dads. Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson delivers his best dad joke: “What’s a pirate’s favourite letter? I know you think it’s Rrrrr. But it’s the sea!” And Ken Jeong strikes a rare note of seriousness when he remarks that fathers can’t necessarily make life perfect for their children, but they can strive to make it wonderful. It’s a lovely philosophy. He learned it from his dad.