Worst father ever ? Spoilers

Actually, I don't think Joe was a bad father, at all.

I agree with Cat. I think he was a fabulous dad. Sure, he made some mistakes, but he put EVERYTHING into doing the best that he could. He was very honest with himself and his kids about his failings, and he tried (and succeeded) to do better. He was unconventional - which can only ever be a good thing as far as I'm concerned - and yet he managed to communicate his thoughts and feelings well enough with other adults that for the most part he got them to respect his parenting choices... even if they wouldn't have made the same ones themselves.

In fact, the other adults were far more of a concern for me, with their general selfishness.

As to the matter of "health and safety" - I cringe every time someone cringes over a matter of safety! For pete's sake, the boy was never in any serious danger. He was an adventurous, outdoorsy, full-of-beans kid who liked to climb trees and do his own stunts. Just like all kids SHOULD be - and used to be in the good old days, before they were forced to sit indoors all day playing computer games because everyone got scared they may skin a knee! There were no activities featured in this film that I didn't do hundreds of times when I was his age. And I really miss those days, because now I'm too old and fat to be able to climb a tree or sit on the bonnet of a car!

The life he gave his sons was a far better one - by a million miles - than most kids get after the loss of their mother.

I agree. He let his son do things that baby-sitters and nannies would be arrested for.

I didn't think it was such a big deal with the driving through the puddle. It's not like Artie was actually driving. Though I would never do that with my child on a public road.

The potential for danger is far too great in allowing your child to sit on the hood of the vehicle while tearing across the sand. I did this once in our driveway going quite slow and flew off the car.

In this situation, he could have been killed from hitting the ground or even being run over by his own father.

Letting him jumping in the tub, I could just envision him breaking his leg or splitting his head open. Accidents like that are quite common in my area with people hurting themsleves by jumping into shallow pools with only up to 4 feet of water. I don't even want to imagine the higher risk with just a couple feet of water in a bathtub.

Sure they made for sweet moments in the film, but daddy's desire give in to his little boy was not an act of love but permissiveness and a lack of proper parenting.

But I think that was the whole point. He was a dad who was gone all the time, didn't really know his son that well, and had no idea what parenting was all about. He thought it easiest to just let his kids do whatever they wanted for the most part, but realized that such a style didn't work.

I imagine he would look back on those situations and thank his lucky stars that nothing bad happened.

Can't say the same thing for the 10 year old boy that was killed riding an ATV without a helmet yesterday in his uncle's yard. Or the 4 year old that drowned in the pool earlier this week.

Hihi, true. All this deadly stuff I had a constant feeling this will end badly. I actually stoped the movie and went to read the plot if the kid dies. Happily he does not. Alot of luck :)
I percived the father rather as the 3rd brother/ kid then a parent. But he grows up in the course of the movie.

I once drove down Southport beach in the UK at 70mph with a friend spread-eagled on the roof, holding onto the window sills.

No big deal.

Altho the police didn't see it that way.

I wonder what safety precautions they used to film it? Certainly they didn't put the child actor in danger. Did they use a small stunt man? CGI some shots together?



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