Moviefone's Worst Movie Dads Ever

[JamesG]

15. Wayne Szalinksi, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

Played by: Rick Moranis

Why He's a Bad Dad: Um, let's see ... he shrunk his kids! For those who insist Wayne isn't a bad father and claim this was just one unfortunate mishap, we refer to that time three years later when he 'Blew Up the Kid.' Negligence is a form of child abuse too.




14. Royal Tenenbaum, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Played by: Gene Hackman

Why He's a Bad Dad: Royal's transgressions include stealing money, forgetting middle names and blaming them for his divorce. But he tops all those when he tells his kids, now adult and dysfunctional (shocker!), that he's dying ... just so he can move back home.




13. Fletcher Reede, Liar, Liar (1997)

Played by: Jim Carrey

Why He's a Bad Dad: Sure, this devious lawyer ultimately redeems himself after a very Capraesque turn of events, but what if his young son hadn't been granted a magical birthday wish forcing his father to be honest for a whole 24 hours? Ever stop and think about that?




12. Jake Shuttleworth, He Got Game (1998)

Played by: Denzel Washington

Why He's a Bad Dad: He had already wronged his son Jesus (Ray Allen) by leaving him parentless (killing his mother and going to prison for it), then he turns up just in time to try to influence the star basketball player's choice of college for a shorter sentence. He got nerve.




11. Big Daddy, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Played by: Burl Ives

Why He's a Bad Dad: The old man is dying, and still he can't appreciate his family. It's not enough that his son (Paul Newman) is a depressed, drunk shell of a man -- Big Daddy's only pleasure is rubbing salt in his boy's wounds.



10. Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather (1972)

Played by: Marlon Brando

Why He's a Bad Dad: He's big on Family values, but unfortunately that's family with a capital "F." He raised his sons to know that nothing is more important than the job -- even one's own brother. (Hey, "F" is for "Fredo," too.)




9. 'Bull' Meechum, The Great Santini (1979)

Played by: Robert Duvall

Why He's a Bad Dad: The career marine treated his children like they were unruly boot camp trainees -- always pushing them to work harder, bossing them around, never showing any love or kindness. (Spoiler alert!) So there's no love lost from his son Ben (Michael O'Keefe) when his father's plane goes down.




8. Norman Osborn, Spider-Man Trilogy

Played by: Willem Dafoe

Why He's a Bad Dad: Unknown to his son Harry (James Franco), Daddy was flying baddie Green Goblin -- but considering the verbal abuse and scorn Norman heaped onto his heir, Harry probably wasn't too shocked to learn the truth.




7. Darryl Cooper, Poison Ivy (1992)

Played by: Tom Skerritt

Why He's a Bad Dad: It's one thing for your dad to be a perv, but to get it on with your new BFF (Drew Barrymore, in her skankiest role)? Ugh. Now that's just gross.




6. Dwight Hansen, This Boy's Life (1993)

Played by: Robert De Niro

Why He's a Bad Dad: Some may take kindly to the idea of a young Leonardo DiCaprio being used as a human punching bag for two hours, but there's nothing funny about his wicked and sadistic stepfather Dwight. Or that crewcut.




5. Homer Simpson, The Simpsons Movie (2007)

Played by: Dan Castellaneta

Why He's a Bad Dad: We already had over 400 episodes' worth of proof that Homer was an irresponsible, immature, alcoholic father before the movie hit. Then he goes and pollutes Springfield so badly the entire town (people included) is locked in a biodome.




4. Daniel Plainview, There Will Be Blood (2007)

Played by: Daniel Day-Lewis

Why He's a Bad Dad: Even after using his adopted son as a business prop, accidentally making him deaf and sending him away alone, Plainview seems to care about the kid ... until he throws him out with the mocking insult "You're a bastard from a basket." Dude, that's milkshake-cold.




3. Noah Cross, Chinatown (1974)

Played by: John Huston

Why He's a Bad Dad: Well, if impregnating your daughter (Faye Dunaway) and forcing her to give up the child (all while making it seem as though it's the girl's fault) makes you a lousy father ... then power hungry real estate magnate Noah Cross is as ungodly horrible as they come.




2. Darth Vader, Star Wars Trilogy

Played by: James Earl Jones

Why He's a Bad Dad: The Dark Side's No. 1 fan is so self-involved he doesn't even realize he has kids until 'Empire' -- and then what does he do when Luke (Mark Hamill) refuses to join him? He chops off his hand with a lightsaber and tries to kill him. Well, at least he didn't lock him in a room with Jar Jar.




1. Jack Torrance, The Shining (1980)

Played by: Jack Nicholson

Why He's a Bad Dad: We'd have to consult our parenting books, but we're pretty sure that trapping your family in a haunted hotel and stalking your young son with a bloody ax means you'll be checking off the "bad dad" box in the next U.S. census.


http://www.moviefone.com/insidemovie...hers-bad-dads/

[catlover79]

^ Interesting list! Thanks for sharing.

[browneyes106]

I didn't think the Jake Shuttlesworth character in He Got Game was a horrible person. He was a flawed man who accidentally killed his wife during an arguement with his son. His character pushed his son too much when he was younger when it came to playing basketball and this led to the incident that caused the wife's death. In the movie Jake is temporarily released from prison by his state governor who wants Jake's son to play basketball at his alma matter. I didn't think Jake was the most terrible movie dad ever.

[MrCleveland]

I got another one....

Peter McCallister, Home Alone 1 & 2-

Why?

He leaves his son Kevin McCallister at home by accident, but they don't realize that Kevin is missing...until they're between Chicago and Paris! And in the sequel, Peter doesn't realize that his own son is in New York while his family is in Miami until they go to the baggage claim. This time, Peter has Kevin's bag and Kevin has Peter's bag.

What kind of father is that?

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by MrCleveland

I got another one....

Peter McCallister, Home Alone 1 & 2-

Why?

He leaves his son Kevin McCallister at home by accident, but they don't realize that Kevin is missing...until they're between Chicago and Paris! And in the sequel, Peter doesn't realize that his own son is in New York while his family is in Miami until they go to the baggage claim. This time, Peter has Kevin's bag and Kevin has Peter's bag.

What kind of father is that?

That's a great one!! Plus, he never punished Buzz when it was always clear that he was in the wrong, not Kevin.

[Jessica]

Interesting list.

[Liza]

I think Eric Stoltz from The Butterfly Effect deserves a spot on the list.

And what about worst stepdads? I think James Mason from Lolita and Robert Mitchum from Night of the Hunter should have a mention too

[Torgo]

Originally Posted by Liza

And what about worst stepdads? I think James Mason from Lolita and Robert Mitchum from Night of the Hunter should have a mention too

Worst stepdads-

Terry O'Quinn as The Stepfather
Adam Baldwin as The King in Radio Flyer
Clancy Brown as Sheriff Gus Gilbert in Pet Sematary II