Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty in “Lost in America” run the gamut: they quit their high-powered jobs to get in touch with themselves, then they have a horrible time with that and they get back in touch with their high-powered jobs.
OK - I read that as Hercules, and thought of the Disney movie. The spoiler was kind of a shock.
Stripes, where a bunch of disorganized slackers turn themselves into an effective fighting force.
In oddly parallel subplots, both Sabrina and Splash had ne’er do well younger brothers step up and take charge so their all business older brothers could fall in love and be happy.
Does he not murder his family in the Disney movie? How do you make a movie about Hercules where he doesn’t murder his family? That’s what starts the whole narrative arc.
Lorenzo’s Oil sort of fits into this mold. It’s the true (or trueish) story of a man whose child comes down with a rare disorder.
Spoilery description: He becomes highly focused on researching the disease and ends up coming up with a working hypothesis for the cause of the disease and a cure. (Though, unfortunately, his cure only works on those who have not already been debilitated by the disease.) His work ends up saving or improving the lives of many children, even if not his own.
How do you make a movie about the Hunchback of Notre Dame where Esmeralda isn’t hanged and the Hunchback doesn’t die of grief?
His Girl Friday: the Rosalind Russell character starts off the movie eager to get married and leave journalism only to discover that she is in fact a “newspaperman”.
I think you are generous calling her a love interest. He only goes out with her once to eat pizza. I loved the fact that he was as big a dick, and just as driven, as Fletcher.
And his last conversation with Nicole is very fitting.
So I guess although it is very brief it does qualify as maybe a “love” interest.
You shouldn’t! But that’s just the ending. You can always tack on a happy ending to a story.The whole killing his family thing is at the beginning of Hercules’s arc. Why’s he go on the labors in the Disney movie?
Atlas Shrugged
Gung Ho
Identity Thief - Justin Bateman’s character is a family man who joins a startup financial services firm where his competency and hard work are appreciated. He just has to resolve the issue of having his identity stolen.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Unfinished Business - Vince Vaugn is trying to get his startup off the ground.
This is 40 - has a plot line where Paul Rudd is trying to get his business in order.
In Good Company - Dennis Quaid is dealing with having a younger boss (who is dating his daughter played by Scarlett Johannsson) along with all sorts of other political BS at a job he is very good at. It all works out though.
Erin Brockovich
The problem with finding examples is that outside of Ayn Rand, focusing on your career often does come into conflict with your family life. And when push comes to shove, most audiences don’t care about the dad who misses his daughter’s recital so he can kill it in that big presentation.
Technically, Sonny (Sandler) had to “grow up” to take responsibility for the kid. But we are shown that once he did that and all the legal red tape was resolved, he took responsibilities in other areas of his life with his girlfriend, friends and went back to be a lawyer (where he is shown as being competent).
He’s a hero, and people come ask him to fight monsters or solve problems which are bothering them. He never murders anyone, either while temporarily mad or otherwise. Come on, it’s Disney!
I remember enjoying the film, but it never pretends to be true to the ancient Greek myths.
They also throw in the bit where just Being That Strong and Being A Bit Clumsy means that folks are maybe going to give him the threat-or-menace look unless he’s gotten his image out there as a do-gooder who punches out monsters – in which case he instead gets cheering crowds and autograph seekers and product endorsements.
To learn what it means to be a true hero so he can regain the godhood stolen by Hades (shutup, we know) and return to Mt. Olympus. And they’re not really labors. He just kills lots of monsters that sometimes match up with the myths.
Although strictly speaking, the love interest is Megara so you could call it the pre-quel, as it were. (Minus the hiccup that Hera is very clearly Hercules’ mother in the film and so probably isn’t interested in cursing him with madness.)
edit:
I love this book. It’s just fantastic and continues to speak to modern families and relationships in a way that not many books approaching their centennial birthday do anymore.
I feel like a lot of these examples may be no-selling the “hyper-competent family people” part of the OP… or, maybe not. Also, on a related note, may I ask what “hyper-competent family people” actually means in this context?
Holy moly. Is there anything in the story they didn’t make a mess of?
At least they keep some variation of the ending, right? Where Herc dies gruesomely, only to be deus ex machina-ed off to Mount Olympus, to become a god? That’s already kind of a tacked-on happy ending. Sounds like it would be right up Disney’s alley.
googles
Oh. I see. They didn’t. I think I need a drink right now. A very large, very stiff drink.
Hook. Toss the cell phone and spend time with your family, you get to be Peter Pan.
The movie was cute and funny, though. And I loved Megara and wished they had more of her. Very not stereotypical Disney Princess. “I’m a damsel, I’m in distress, I can handle myself.” And Hades was hysterical. “What, is my hair out?”
Agreed, it’s probably my favorite of the Disney films and Megara was a hoot. It’s just not very focused on being traditional.
Also agreed. All the voice acting was good (don’t forget Danny DeVito as Phil, Trainer to the Gods).