# Recommend movies for my 85 year old Dad **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 28, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250 "2026-06-28T17:30:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/1 "2026-06-28T17:30:02Z")
Every weekend I visit my elderly parents for dinner and a movie. My Mom likes almost anything, but my Dad is very hard to please. The only thing he usually likes to watch is sports and news (and I don’t need to tell you what news he watches). Movies I know he likes. We just watched Song Sung Blue with Hugh Jackman. We all loved that one. He loves movies from the 50s and 60s. His favorite movie of all time is The Sound of Music. At Christmas his favorite film is White Christmas with Bing Crosby. So obviously he likes musicals but they have to be on the older side. He didn’t like Hamilton at all and I’m not sure about Chicago but I’ll probably recommend that one night. He generally doesn’t like car chases, gun fights, or spy movies. He was a banker so he kind of liked Margin Call. He also kind of liked Wolf of Wall Street but it was a little too crass for him. I don’t think he cares about the nudity, it’s the cussing that gets to him. I think he doesn’t like car chases and gun fights because he doesn’t like modern action sequences. I do think he likes some older Steve McQueen movies though like Bullitt (which I haven’t seen and will suggest because I do want to see it). As I mentioned, he’s a huge sports fan so he knows all the back stories. I thought he’d love Money Ball, but he knew that the movie was taking a lot of liberties on the true story. Even though he doesn’t like car chases he really loved Ford vs. Ferrari but was only so so on Rush. I don’t think he was a big fan of F1 but I think that was because the story was a bit weak. He absolutely hates Sci Fi so nothing in that category. Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/2 "2026-06-28T17:34:09Z")
I can probably help with sports movies. On the more serious side: - The Natural - Field of Dreams - For the Love of the Game - The Rookie On the funnier side: - Bull Durham - Major League - Tin Cup - Mr. Baseball ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/3 "2026-06-28T17:35:06Z")
He might like La-La Land. It’s got an old-time Hollywood feel, it’s a musical and it’s pretty much clean as a whistle. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/4 "2026-06-28T17:38:51Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > On the funnier side: > > - Bull Durham > - Major League > - Tin Cup > - Mr. Baseball Also Slapshot. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/5 "2026-06-28T17:40:30Z")
Has he seen the 1996 movie **Independence Day**? I hate it, but my father-in-law really liked it. Supposedly Bob Dole’s favorite movie. Oops, just saw that he hates sci-fi. This isn’t hard sci-fi, but probably not a good answer. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/6 "2026-06-28T17:40:38Z")
Also _Mystery, Alaska_, if he’s fond of underdog hockey films. It’s pretty sweet. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/7 "2026-06-28T17:43:14Z")
Mention of that reminded me of _Miracle_, the biopic about the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, and their coach, Herb Brooks. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/8 "2026-06-28T17:45:03Z")
If he liked Moneyball and he’s a banker, see if he likes **The Big Short**. It’s another adaptation of a Michael Lewis book. Could also try **The Sting**. As for musicals, I don’t think you can go wrong with **The Music Man** , with Robert Preston (and a young Ron Howard). I like submarine and aviation movies. Here’s my list if he cares to try: **12 O’Clock High** (from the 1940s with Gregory Peck) **The Great Waldo Pepper** (Robert Redford) **Hunt for Red October** **The Enemy Below** **The Caine Mutiny** (Humphrey Bogart) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/9 "2026-06-28T17:46:11Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > As for musicals, I don’t think you can go wrong with **The Music Man** , with Robert Preston (and a young Ron Howard). And Shirley Jones. \<3 It’s my favorite musical. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/10 "2026-06-28T17:47:23Z")
There are a bunch of sports bio pics from the 50s and 60s, all pretty clean. Jim Thorpe, Lou Gehrig, “Crazy Legs” Hirsch films have tragic elements, but are good as I recall. And Brian’s Song from the 60s - the one film men of that era are “allowed” to cry over. The Babe Ruth biopic is also good as I recall, and pretty sanitized. The Francis the Talking Mule comedies may be up your Dad’s alley. I don’t know how they age. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/11 "2026-06-28T17:48:59Z")
_Singin’ in the Rain_ is one of my favourite films, but he has surely seen that. But very rewatchable. _The Great Escape_ is classic Steve McQueen. And it doesn’t have a _car_ chase. 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/12 "2026-06-28T18:08:13Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > - Mr. Baseball This is a good 90s movie, with Tom Selleck as an old ball player finishing his career in Japan. He does a good job looking like a legitimate player. Another good baseball movie is _A League of Their Own_. It’s about women playing sports, so I don’t know if that’s an issue for your dad. There’s also _42_, about Jackie Robinson, and _61_\*, about Roger Maris. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/13 "2026-06-28T18:52:56Z")
Would y’all enjoy revisiting some of the classics from the forties and fifties? _Casablanca_ and other Bogart vehicles, _North by Northwest_ and other Hitchcock classics, _The Third Man_ and other noirs, _Bringing up Baby_ and other screwball comedies? These sound like they might be right in his wheelhouse, and also might bring up some nostalgia for him. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/14 "2026-06-28T19:25:17Z")
If your father’s “favorite movie of all time” is _The Sound of Music_, I would take it for granted there is nothing I could recommend that would please him. That said, I will mention _Inside Straight_, an obscure and underrated 1951 film about an unscrupulous man in late 19th century San Francisco who repeatedly builds and loses a financial empire, ultimately leading to a climactic, very high stakes poker game. It’s an older film, no cussin’ or car chasin’, that deals with banking issues. - [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043676/?ref\_=hm\_rvi\_i\_2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043676/?ref%5C_=hm_rvi_i_2) _House of Rothschild_ (1934) and _House of Strangers_ (1949) also deal with banking issues. _The Match King_ (1932) is a fictionalized version of the life of [Ivar Kreuger - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivar_Kreuger) and his attempt to gain a worldwide match monopoly through banking misbehavior. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/15 "2026-06-28T19:44:21Z")
Apollo 13 might be good for him. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/16 "2026-06-28T20:54:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > > On the funnier side: > > > > - Bull Durham > > - Major League > > - Tin Cup > > - Mr. Baseball > > Also Slapshot. I’ll throw in _The Bad News Bears_ (1976) because it’s one of my favorites. And in dirtball world, you can’t go wrong with Walter Matthau. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/17 "2026-06-28T20:59:27Z")
**Top Gun: Maverick** ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/18 "2026-06-28T21:03:35Z")
Today I saw a photo of five of the stars of _The Shawshank Redemption_, in the same positions they stood in 32 years ago when the movie came out. That movie might please your dad–nothing supernatural or sci-fi about it, and a happy ending. [![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7utdcn4uu7k3ev5z7tqsghof/bafkreigttwxryjvbp4pnzui4fmcr3hbeubswbnehsggfkm5hy4iqmxfbd4) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7utdcn4uu7k3ev5z7tqsghof/bafkreigttwxryjvbp4pnzui4fmcr3hbeubswbnehsggfkm5hy4iqmxfbd4) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/19 "2026-06-28T21:04:09Z")
If your dad is a sports fan you might do like I sometimes do and look up and old game on YouTube. You can occasionally find full length broadcasts. He might get a kick out of watching Jackie Robinson bat while Yogi Berra catches (retro NFL games from the 70s are also fun) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hqZnPQnxO9U/hqdefault.jpg "1952 World Series, Game 7: Yankees @ Dodgers") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqZnPQnxO9U) ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2026, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250/20 "2026-06-28T21:05:38Z")
I didn’t think by _Bad News Bears_ suggestion through far enough. If he objects to cussing, it’s probably not going to be his kind of movie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-movies-for-my-85-year-old-dad/1031250.md?page=2)