Watch I Never Sang for My Father For Free

Pretty Good

Beautiful, moving film.

A Major Disappointment

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

A great film with wonderful performances from Melvyn Douglas and Gene Hackman that displays the relationship between father and son and the difficulties of aging, growing up and moving on. This film echoed several personal things in my own relationship with my father, and the moments in the film felt real to me. Any person who has had to deal with complicated relationships with their parents owes it to themselves to watch this film. I'm only sorry it took me so long to watch it, but given that my parents are entering their twilight years it really connected with me. I can't recommend this film enough for it's acting and truthful screenplay. My only complaint would be the music which seemed dated and obtrusive in places.

What an honest, thought-provoking surprise to view this film after learning it stars Gene Hackman whom I know of through the 70's/early-mid 80's "Superman" franchise. Aside from the knowing writing, and the nuanced performances (Hackman's mother and sister are excellent) the main factor that makes me enjoy this gem is that I strongly relate to the story's main issue: how do adult-children best care for elderly parents AND keep their lives intact? In my real-world version, my mother survived my father and is now, almost three years, living in a "home", but since summer 2000, I've wrestled with the question of how is she-to-be 'best-cared for' while I am in control of my own life. I recommend viewing this as a companion to "Where's Poppa?" which deals with the same topic (adult-children caring for elderly parents) but in a hilarious, upside-down, "Is this happening?" style (both films released in 1970).

I find myself recommending this movie to people all the time. It is such a clear picture of the challenges faced by anyone trying to help an aging parent.But there is another aspect to it that I love. It is one of the few serious films I've seen that shows the effect of a character being viewed as the salt of the earth, heroic and charming by outsiders, but who is nasty, judgmental and selfish with his own family. Whatever has happened due to Douglas' character aging and beginning to lose his mental faculties, you know that this particular pain has been part of his children's lives forever.Such a relationship is always difficult -- it is especially so with an older relative who has truly done heroic things, and who is respected and loved even by those he abuses. It puts everyone who knows his darker side in a bizarre and awkward position, seeming like villains for ever saying a word against a much-admired person.This movie captures the agony and poignancy of such a relationship perfectly, and shows the various levels of maturity with which one's family can choose to respond. The character's daughter needs to stay away, his son takes it with a grain of salt, as evidenced by his wry smile and mild answer when his fiancée finds his father "charming." This is a must-see film, for more reasons than I can list here.

This is one film that has stayed with me since I first saw it; in spring, 1971; in a time before I had to shave everyday. The movie theater in which I saw it has long-since been turned into a touring-company playhouse...and the name of my date has long-since slipped my mind. Not really...but my wife might read this.A friend of mine who is a physician told me that no one ages gracefully. As much as I value his friendship and judgment, Melvyn Douglas must be held as an exception to that dictum. Though his role here is little different from that of Paul Newman's father in "Hud," he plays it magnificently. One can scarcely imagine him as a romantic leading man, although he was...and opposite Greta Garbo, at that. His scene with Gene Hackman at the funeral home is too real and too devastating to pass off as "schmaltz." Gene Hackman has never given a bad performance, and his role here, as the dutiful, though semi-distant son, is (arguably) one of his best. He realizes he must live his own life...though, being a widower himself, he knows on an adult level what his father--suddenly all-too-human and frail--is suffering. He must choose between fealty to the man who gave him life and the woman who now gives his life meaning and passion. The bedroom scene, in which he discusses his doubts with her, is very real. Not every middle-aged adult has faced such choices.I saw this film when I was 17 and have not seen it since. But as I grow older its meaning and significance grows ever-increasingly important. We, all of us, want to gain the approval of our father. Yet, our passions, those things that give meaning to our life, might not be what our father values...and so we share them with others and not with the one whose approval, love, and affirmation we most desire and most need.Is it schmaltzy, as some have said?....Is life?