Father's Day is a day when I will most likely be outside working in the garden, but also a day to relax and unwind if possible. If the weather doesn't cooperate, we might sneak out to see a movie.

The "dad movie" genre is large and includes political thrillers, sports movies, crime, and nautical themes. These are the kind of movies that you start watching in the late afternoon and doze off during the middle part of the movie, but wake up during the important parts. And you will be able to quote multiple lines from these films.

Some of the films are about the power relationship between father and son, and all of them are definitely about the bond between men. If you have some free time this weekend, here are seven of my favorite father movies.

In the first of three Kevin Costner baseball movies, and perhaps the best of the bunch, his protagonist builds a baseball field in the middle of an Iowa cornfield and then embarks on a cross-country journey to collect lost souls and bring them back to the ball field. The film is loaded with talent, including James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, and Burt Lancaster in his final role. The film revolves around baseball, but at its core it is a film about fathers and sons, missed opportunities, and second chances at redemption. Don't dare not cry at the end.

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Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and is imprisoned in the notorious Shawshank Prison. Andy also takes a liking to the corrupt warden (Bob Gunton), who uses Andy's skills as a banker to plot money laundering inside the prison. Andy's acquaintance with other inmates during his 19-year sentence teaches him that even if he is locked up in prison, he can still have hope. Of course, a rock hammer and a knowledge of geology would help. And a big poster.

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"The Sea is Now a Battlefield" Peter Weir's epic film is a surprisingly accurate portrayal of life on a British warship in the Napoleonic era. The film is about the HMS Surprise and the French frigate as they race across the South Atlantic and chase each other to the Galapagos Islands, but more than that, it is about the camaraderie and dynamics when hundreds of men are packed tightly together in the surging ocean.

Russell Crowe plays Captain Jack Aubrey and Paul Bettany is the ship's doctor and best friend. The film is adapted from the novel by Patrick O'Brian and is a cannonball version of Jane Austen.

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I was tempted to save this spot for "The Godfather" (hello, "Barbie"), but I'm going with Martin Scorsese's mobster movie based on "Infernal Affairs." Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) are both members of the Massachusetts State Police, but Colin secretly works for Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) and Billy goes undercover as one of Costello's crew. As Billy and Colin sniff out the rat and get closer to each other's identities, the tension builds. The film also offers great performances by Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and Mark Wahlberg, as well as some great Boston accents. Sheen and Nicholson's characters are also father figures to Damon and DiCaprio, who will stop at nothing to prove their worth.

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"Be careful of the bullets you shoot at Ryan. Based on the Tom Clancy novel, Jack Ryan (a dashing young Alec Baldwin) is a CIA analyst who, unbeknownst to the Soviets, helps Captain Ramias' (Connelly) crew and a Soviet ballistic missile submarine defect. This tense thriller from "Die Hard" director John McTiernan also stars James Earl Jones, Stellan Skarsgard, Sam Neill, Scott Glenn, Tim Curry, and Fred Thompson, all of whom chew the scenery hungrily.

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Have you ever thought about the Roman Empire today? In Ridley Scott's epic film, Russell Crowe plays Maximus, a Roman general. But Maximus is betrayed by the emperor's own son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), who kills the emperor and Maximus' family, sells them into slavery, and forces them into the gladiatorial arena.

Maximus plots his revenge against Commodus while cutting a path to the Colosseum from outside the empire, leading to a final duel in the arena. The battle scenes are all excellent, and the period detail is well thought out. But you would expect nothing less from Scott, who has directed major films over the years, from "Blade Runner" to "Thelma & Louise." But credit must go to Crowe, who anchored the film with gravitas.

Seen on Paramount Plus and Peacock

Father Henry Jones St. (Sean Connery) and son Henry Jones Jr. (Harrison Ford) team up for one final adventure in their search for the Holy Grail, and in the process, end their mutual disagreements. In this second Indiana Jones film, the two travel from Austria to the Middle East in search of the Grail of Christ and try to stay one step ahead of the Nazis. The prologue, in which River Phoenix plays young Indy, also gives us some great backstory, including a scar on his jaw and a fear of snakes.

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