Fathers' Day is a 1997 comedy film

Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 directed by Ivan Reitman

Ivan Reitman

Ivan Reitman, OC is a Canadian film producer and director. He is known for the comedies he has directed and produced, especially in the 1980s and 1990s.He is the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 2000.-Early life:...

 and starring Robin Williams

Robin Williams

Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...

, Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal

William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...

, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus is an American actress and comedienne, widely known for her sitcom roles in Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine....

, and Nastassja Kinski

Nastassja Kinski

Nastassja Kinski is a German-born American-based actress who has appeared in more than 60 films. Her starring roles include her Golden Globe Award-winning portrayal of the title character in Tess and her roles in two erotic films , as well as parts in Wim Wenders' films The Wrong Move; Paris,...

. It is a remake of the 1983

1983 in film

-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...

 French

Cinema of France

The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...

 film Les Compères

Les Compères

Les Compères is a 1983 French comedy film written and directed by Francis Veber, and starring Gérard Depardieu, Pierre Richard and Anny Duperey.In 1997, this movie was remade as Fathers' Day in the US.-Plot:...

.

In the film, Collette Andrews (Kinski) gets 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. When Jack and Dale run into each other and find out what's happening, they work together to find Scott and determine the identity of the actual father, who turns out to be Collette's husband, Bob.

The film features an appearance by the musical group Sugar Ray

Sugar Ray

Sugar Ray is a band from Orange County, California. The band, starting off more as an alternative metal band, first gained fame in 1997 with their release of the song "Fly". This song's success, coupled with its pop rock sound that was quite different from the rest of their material at the time,...

, and Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...

 makes a brief uncredited cameo appearance

Cameo appearance

A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

. IMDb credits Gibson as "Scott the Body Piercer". Catherine Reitman

Catherine Reitman

Catherine Marcelle Reitman is an American actress.Reitman was born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother is French-Canadian actress Geneviève Robert and her father is director Ivan Reitman...

 and Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman is a Canadian/American film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for directing the films Thank You for Smoking , Juno , and Up in the Air . As of February 2, 2010, he has received three Academy Award nominations, two of which are for Best Director...

 also have cameos.

Cast

• Robin Williams
  Robin Williams
  Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
  
   as Dale Putley
• Billy Crystal
  Billy Crystal
  William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
  
   as Jack Lawrence
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus is an American actress and comedienne, widely known for her sitcom roles in Seinfeld and The New Adventures of Old Christine....
  
   as Carrie Lawrence
• Nastassja Kinski
  Nastassja Kinski
  Nastassja Kinski is a German-born American-based actress who has appeared in more than 60 films. Her starring roles include her Golden Globe Award-winning portrayal of the title character in Tess and her roles in two erotic films , as well as parts in Wim Wenders' films The Wrong Move; Paris,...
  
   as Collette Andrews
• Charlie Hofheimer
  Charlie Hofheimer
  Charlie Hofheimer is an American film, television and theatre actor. He landed his first film role as Jim Garland in the 1994 version of Lassie. He has also made many TV guest appearances in a number of TV series....
  
   as Scott Andrews
• Bruce Greenwood
  Bruce Greenwood
  Bruce Greenwood is a Canadian actor and musician. He is generally known for his roles as U.S. presidents in Thirteen Days and National Treasure: Book of Secrets and for his role as Captain Christopher Pike in the 2009 Star Trek film...
  
   as Bob Andrews
• Charles Rocket
  Charles Rocket
  Charles Rocket was an American film and television actor, notable for his tenure as a cast member on Saturday Night Live as well as for his appearances as the villain Nicholas Andre in the film Dumb and Dumber; as Dave Dennison, the father in Disney's Hocus Pocus.-Early life and career:Rocket was...
  
   as Russ Trainor
• Patti D'Arbanville
  Patti D'Arbanville
  Patricia "Patti" D'Arbanville is an American actress and former model.-Early life:D'Arbanville, born May 25, 1951 in New York City, New York, is the daughter of Jean , an artist, and George D'Arbanville, a bartender, and attended PS 41 on Eleventh Street...
  
   as Shirley Trainor
• Jared Harris
  Jared Harris
  Jared Francis Harris is a British character actor, well known for playing the obnoxious Mac McGrath in the Adam Sandler film Mr. Deeds, and for his portrayal of Lane Pryce on the AMC series Mad Men.- Personal life :...
  
   as Lee
• Louis Lombardi
  Louis Lombardi
  Louis Lombardi is an American actor.Lombardi was born in The Bronx, New York City, the son of Louis Lombardi, Sr. On television, Lombardi had a recurring role on The Sopranos as Agent Skip Lipari, and guest starred on such shows as Entourage, Heroes and CSI. He was a cast member of a 1990s...
  
   as Matt

Foreign Adaptations

In South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, Fathers' Day was released as What's Up Pop's?, a title the distributor decided would be more appropriate for the local market. The name was subsequently changed to What's Up Pops? for DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 release, when they realized the apostrophe had been used incorrectly.

Reception

The movie was not a success with either critics or audiences. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress

Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress

The Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst supporting actress of the previous year...

for her work in the film.