Craig T. Nelson makes a father’s dissatisfaction funny without making it attractive. We rate him most when his authority is open to challenge, as it is in The Incredibles, rather than treated as sufficient reason to cast him.
Fi1m perspective
Bob Parr has grievances, and Craig T. Nelson does not ask us to approve of them. Voicing Bob in The Incredibles (2004), he gives the dissatisfied father enough humour to keep us listening, without suggesting that the family owes him its undivided attention. We laughed at Bob’s complaints because Nelson lets their self-importance show. That balance is worth noticing in an actor so frequently asked to play fathers, coaches and police chiefs.
Poltergeist (1982) established him as a leading man, with the everyman credibility that supernatural horror needs if it is going to disturb us. Coach (1989–1997) made a longer commitment to his comedy, casting him as Hayden Fox and making use of his deadpan delivery. By The District (2000–2004), where he played Chief Jack Mannion, authority had become a familiar assignment. Those jobs suit him, though their recurrence also suggests how narrowly casting can define an actor.
Brad Bird’s writing gives Nelson something better than another opportunity to sound aggrieved. Holly Hunter’s Helen has impatience of her own, and the marriage in The Incredibles never becomes an extended request to sympathise with Bob. Nelson’s performance works because he leaves room for that resistance; we can enjoy him while remaining aware that Helen has a point. Sarah Vowell’s Violet and Spencer Fox’s Dash also have frustrations that matter, which prevents the children from becoming mere interruptions to the father’s story.
Parenthood (2010–2015) gave him another patriarch, Zeek Braverman, and Incredibles 2 (2018) brought him back as Mr. Incredible. There is a limitation here: casting him as the senior man can become too easy a decision. The coach role in Blades of Glory (2007) is another example of the familiar assignment. We would welcome more parts that ask something other than authority of him.
Start with The Incredibles, allowing for a running time that stretches a little. Our reservation is not about Nelson: Bob’s grievances are handled more persuasively than the film’s awkward ideas about who deserves to stand out. If the next part is another father, give him someone as capable of answering back as Hunter.
Biography
Craig T. Nelson is an American actor. He was born on 4 April 1944 in Spokane, Washington. He studied at Central Washington University and the University of Arizona before beginning his career as a gag writer and comic in Los Angeles. He made his acting debut in 1971.
Nelson is known for his Emmy-winning performance as Hayden Fox in the sitcom Coach (1989–1997). He voiced Bob Parr / Mr. Incredible in the animated films The Incredibles (2004) and Incredibles 2 (2018). His other notable film roles include Steve Freeling in Poltergeist (1982), Joe Paxton in The Proposal (2009) and Alexander Cullen in The Devil's Advocate (1997). On television he has appeared as Zeek Braverman in Parenthood (2010–2015) and Dale Ballard in Young Sheldon (2017–2024).
