Two Great Father’s Day Movies Might Never Be Seen on Father’s Day

Why wait till Christmas?

It occurs to me that two movies that would be great for Father's Day will likely never be seen on Father's Day. That's because they're Christmas movies!

Yeah, I was sitting here today just thinking about all the possible movies you could watch on Father's Day and It's a Wonderful Life and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation sprang to mind.

Of course, I doubt anyone will watch these classics at any time other than the Christmas season. But, if you think about it, they'd make GREAT Father's Day movies.

I've seen It's a Wonderful Life in its entirety only once. I saw parts of it several times in my childhood. In fact, I only ever thought the movie's entire length was from the point when George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, wished he'd never been born and Clarence the angel granted him a look at that alternate reality. Turns out that's just the last 30 minutes of the movie. But the theme of the film--a father at his wit's end trying to care for his family only to realize that he's always been, in their eyes, its biggest asset--would make terrific viewing for the family on Father's Day. But I'm fairly certain it's not gonna happen.

Just like I don't think anyone's rushing to the TV to put in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, although it's about a father who does everything in his power to make sure his family has the best Christmas possible. It's one of only two Chevy Chase movies that I even like--the other being Funny Farm--and it's a great "dad" movie. But I don't know anyone who's gonna watch it at any other time but the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

So I guess I'll just have to recommend my old standby, Field of Dreams. It really is the perfect Father's Day movie and you can watch it any time of the year. And, in my opinion, it's better than the other two.

But I thought I'd throw the other two out there and see what happened. My guess is, they stay in the cabinet until Black Friday.