If you went to the movies this fall, you probably met him: the Sad Art Dad. You'll have known him by his miserableness; despite the flash of the cameras and the cheers of the groundlings, he's most often found moping alone. His vocation may vary'movie star (in Jay Kelly), art-house director (Sentimental Value), blockbuster Tudor playwright (Hamnet)'but his problem tends to be the same. He has chosen great art over good parenting, utterly failing as a father, and he knows it. There's something delicious about his cocktail of self-pity and self-loathing, which can arouse both the viewer's repulsion and compassion. It may not be much fun to be a Sad Art Dad, but it's certainly fun to watch one. The distant and distracted patriarch, although abundant on-screen in 2025, is not a novel invention. Yet most movie dads are more likely to be found balancing stellar careers and model parenting (lawyer-dad in To Kill A Mockingbird; Mob-dad in the Godfather films) than exhibiting'let alone...
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