| The Good Father | |
| Director: | Mike Newell |
| Producer: | Ann Scott |
| Music: | Richard Hartley |
| Cinematography: | Michael Coulter |
| Editing: | Peter Hollywood |
| Studio: | FilmFour International Greenpoint Films |
| Distributor: | Mainline Pictures (United Kingdom) Skouras Pictures (United States) |
| Runtime: | 90 min |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | £764,000[1] |
The Good Father is a 1985 British film directed by Mike Newell and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jim Broadbent, Harriet Walter, Fanny Viner, Simon Callow, Joanne Whalley, and Michael Byrne. It is loosely based on Peter Prince's 1983 novel of the same name. It marked the first credited appearance in a feature film of Stephen Fry. The film was produced for British television but received a theatrical release in the US.
Bill (Hopkins) is a man who is bitter about his recent divorce from his wife and the loss of custody of his only child. He acts out his anger by befriending another man, Roger (Broadbent), who has been sued for divorce by his wife, so that she can enter into a lesbian relationship with her lover. Bill tries to help the man out, by funding the latter's court case to regain custody of his child. Simon Callow plays an unscrupulous and sleazy barrister hired for the case. Soon Bill, who has focused his anger against feminism which he blames for robbing him of his family, begins to feel doubt for what he and his new friend are doing.[2]