Fathers' Day is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Nastassja Kinski.
In the film, Collette Andrews (Kinski) enlists two former lovers, cynical lawyer Jack Lawrence (Crystal) and lonely, ex-hippie, suicidal writer Dale Putley (Williams) to help her search for her runaway teenage son Scott by telling each man that he is the father.
His mother, Collette, visits her ex-boyfriend, lawyer Jack Lawrence, telling him that Scott is really his son, and she wants him to find the boy.
Bumping into two drug dealers who he scammed out of $5,000 to buy a necklace for Nikki, Scott escapes, only to be accidentally run down by Jack and Dale.
They drive to Nikki's hotel, but when Jack and Dale go inside, the drug dealers spot Scott in the car and plan to kidnap and kill him.
Heartbroken, Scott is suddenly grabbed by the drug dealers, who Dale and Jack attack, resulting in a huge fight erupting in the concert crowd.
Freed from jail the next day, Jack, Dale and Scott head home, where Collette and his father Bob embrace their son.
Then I went to a dinner party at [Warner Bros. production chief] Bob Daly's house and he said, 'We're excited about the prospect of you and Robin doing a movie together'.
[6][4] Of the film's disappointing box-office run, an unnamed Warner Bros. executive said, "When [CAA] calls and says, 'We have a package, Father's [sic] Day, with Williams and Crystal, and Reitman, we say 'great'.
The website's consensus reads: "A maudlin misfire, Fathers' Day manages the difficult task of making both Billy Crystal and Robin Williams woefully unfunny.
[14] Ebert added that the film "was recycled from the French, by the team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel" ... and "is astonishing, given the superior quality of their collaborations like Parenthood and City Slickers".
[14] Among the few positive reviews were Desson Thomson's of The Washington Post and Janet Maslin's of The New York Times, the latter of whom wrote, "Not surprisingly, there are some slow patches and formulaic touches, but that's a fair trade for the fun of watching Mr. Williams and Mr.
[15][16] Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle commented, "Fathers' Day is a mildly diverting summer family comedy.
In general, that's not a bad rap, but when you've got an expectant blockbuster that stars Robin Williams and Billy Crystal and has been directed by Ivan Reitman — all of them true kings of comedy — them words 'mildly diverting' are clearly less than the desired result.
"[17] Julia Louis-Dreyfus was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her work in the film, but she lost to Alicia Silverstone for Batman & Robin.
[18] The film was also nominated for Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy at the 1997 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, but barely lost to 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag.