10 Great Lesser-Known Dad Movies On Netflix

July 2, 2017

We live in an unprecedented era for movies. While the box office is generally flooded with blockbusters, comic movies and sequels, more films are being made now than have ever been made before. One of the things to thank for that is the variety of streaming services that are custom made to watch whatever movie looks interesting from the luxury of your recliner.

Netflix, of course, is the leader of these services, so we decided to scour it and see what dad-friendly movies they have that weren’t exactly box office smashes, but are still well-made and enjoyable. Here’s our list.

Chef

Chef was written and directed by its star, Jon Favreau, who your dad remembers as the main guy from Swingers, but who also is the powerhouse director behind the recent live action The Jungle Book, Iron Man, and Elf. While it was well-received by critics (86% on Rotten Tomatoes) it was only released in limited theaters, and barely cracked $30 million in the box office when it came out in 2014.

Which is a bit of a shame, because this movie is a great little film that focuses on the rekindling of a relationship between a father and a son, while doubling as some good old fashioned food porn. Favreau plays a formerly renowned chef who quits his restaurant to start a food truck, and the movie follows him and his son as they travel across the country selling Cuban sandwiches. Dads love movies about food, and dads love movies about being a dad, so this is one that he’ll definitely want to stream.

Life Itself

Dads love documentaries, and dads really loved Roger Ebert, easily one of, if not the, most influential film critic of all time. Life Itself, released in 2014, isn’t that well-known because, well, it’s a documentary. But it’s rocking an impressive 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. If that’s not enough, it’s directed by Steve James, best known for his work in Hoop Dreams, and has Martin Scorsese as its Executive Producer.

It’s both a trip down nostalgia lane, and a touching tribute to a true legend. Plus it’ll give your dad the opportunity to explain to you what it was like watching Siskel & Ebert back in the day, which is just icing on the cake.

Europa Report

Europa Report made only about $125,000 in the box office when it came out in 2013. No, we did not forget to put a few extra zeros there. Frankly, that’s kind of crazy to think about, as this 80% Rotten Tomatoes film looks like it had quite the budget. It tells the story of a mission to the moons of Jupiter in an attempt to discover life outside of Earth, and it’s packed with sci-fi suspense and tense drama.

Also, it’s a space movie. Dads love space movies. This is definitely an addition to the contemporary science fiction genre that more people should know about.

Batman The Movie

No, not that Batman movie. We’re going old school here. The 1966 film version of the classic TV series is not necessarily a “good movie” by the strict definition of the term.

Just listen to the plot synopsis from IMDB: “The Dynamic Duo faces four supervillains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people.” Lol, what? But this is campy as hell, and dads love campy things. And they especially love campy Batman. So sure, they’ll put this on Netflix and love every minute of it, while pouring one out in honor of the OG, Adam West.

Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny

Tenacious D are ridiculous, but dads love ridiculous, and they love 80s heavy metal throw backs. This is the kind of movie that fans of Tenacious D will love, and which people who either don’t like Tenacious D or don’t like metal will hate. Thankfully, your dad loves both Tenacious D and hair metal, so he’ll love this silly, ridiculous R-rated comedy.

Spy Hard

While Leslie Nielsen is best known for Airplane!, his later, less iconic spoof films still have their own specific dad-friendly charm. Are the jokes in Spy Hard, a movie whose title is a pun on Die Hard but which spoofs James Bond movies and doesn’t have any Die Hard references of note, particularly inspired? Hell no.

It’s the first movie written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, who are objectively awful writers that have inflicted every bad spoof movie you’ve ever heard of onto the world. But, Leslie Nielsen makes it work, because he is a dad-approved comedic genius. If anyone else starred in this, you’d never want to give it the time of day, but Nielsen is always worth a watch.

Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World

This movie got some mixed reviews, and barely registered at the box office, but is still a charming, if disjointed, film that dads will mostly enjoy, especially thanks to the tender performances of Kiera Knightley and Steve Carell. As a general rule, a movie with lead actors who your dad recognizes as famous is about 60% more likely to warrant a dad-viewing, so the cast of this movie, which also includes Rob Corddry, Patton Olswalt, and Adam Brody, will at least convince him to give it a chance.

The film takes place in the near-future, where the world is days away from ending. It explores how these characters spend their last days on Earth before the apocalypse. It might sound dreary, but it’s handled more as a dark comedy with some real human moments sprinkled throughout. But be warned, your dad is going to make some uncomfortable comment to you about how he thinks Kiera Knightley is actually very attractive, because of course he will.

Sing Street

Sing Street made less then $4 million at the box office when it came out last year, but that didn’t stop it from nabbing a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes as well as a Golden Globe nomination for best Comedy of the year. It’s an objectively amazing film from the writer and director of Once, which you should absolutely see while it’s still on Netflix, but it’s also got a lot of dad-friendly aspects as well.

It takes place in the 80s (solid) and features just about every 80s song your dad was ever into. It follows an Irish high schooler who forms a band in order to impress a girl, and easily is one of the best comedies on Netflix that your dad hasn’t seen, but soon will love.

Lemmy

Listen, this is a documentary about the lead singer of Motörhead. Your dad will want to watch it. I can’t believe I’d even have to tell you that.

World’s Greatest Dad

We have to end on the film World’s Greatest Dad because, well, of course we do. We honestly had not heard of this 2009 dark comedy, but it stars Robin Williams and is pushing 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, so it’s gotta have something going for it. It’s the ultimate film that’s made for dads watching it on Netflix: it stars a big name, it has a title that dads will gravitate towards, and despite making only $220,000 in the box office when it was released, it now gets a second life on Netflix, where this critically-revered film can flourish.

Or, your dad can just go and watch Captain America: Civil War again, or whatever. Netflix has that covered too.