Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Mork & Mindy

In the 1920's they called it "going Hollywood" — talented but naïve kid from the sticks gets a big movie deal, becomes an overnight sensation, gets big-headed, blows his money on alcohol (an illegal substance in the U.S. back then) and sex, then either dies young or pulls himself together, gives up the booze and returns to the woman who loved him before he became famous. In 1933 Raoul Walsh directed a film with that title, starring Bing Crosby and Marion Davies, and "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Mork and Mindy'" could almost be considered a remake. It takes the known facts of Robin Williams' early success and presses them into the familiar cliché mold, with cocaine instead of alcohol and John Belushi as a sort of Mephistopheles to Williams' Faust. Best things here are Chris Diamantopoulos' eerily exact reproduction of the early Robin Williams and some bits of felicitous creativity in the writing (especially when Diamantopoulos as Williams encounters a busker doing him doing Williams and gives him $100).

I don't now know where this kid came from who played Robin Williams but he was channeling. It was astounding at times. The writing was as good as it could get for someone trying to capture Robin's crazy improv in a script. And I gotta tell you, it made me cry. I really felt empathy with Robin and Valerie. When Robin walked away from his crippling vice and into the best years of his marriage and fatherhood and a mostly sparkling movie career, I was moved to tears.

Sometimes, these insider TV movies can be terribly cheesy. This one benefited greatly by the lead performance and Daniel Roebuck's loving turn as Garry Marshall. These people are heroes of mine and I came out of this movie with even more admiration for them than ever before.

My wife and I attended the same High School as Chris and my wife, Karen H. appeared in Man of La Mancha with Chris. We knew he was destined for great things then, and the performance we saw last night proved that right. We were told of his role minutes before the movie aired and was very glad that we got the call. Chris did a fantastic job as Robin, we were both very impressed. Daniel Roebuck was excellent as Gary Marshall. I understand that with every "unauthorized" biopic there is always some artistic license taken, I always watch these movies with some apprehension. But thanks to the terrific performances by the cast, it was more entertainment, than educational.

Great job Chris! Karen H. East York Collegiatge and myself are all proud of you.

For those fans of the original "Mork & Mindy" show in the 70's, this was a believable look into the early career of Robin Williams, now widely regarded as a comic genius and respected actor. The fact that it was "unauthorized" is probably meant to convey that no punches were pulled, and the dirty laundry gets aired. This was the case here as well. The producers took pains to recreate the characters from the show both physically with regard to personality. They go out of their way to put forth the fact that Williams almost became typecast for his Mork role, and the tedium and frustration that the part produced for him. After all, his fans knew he was something special when they saw him for 5 minutes on "Happy Days". His manic, rapid fire improvisational brilliance continues to amaze to this day, and yet, through this TV movie, we see how close he may have come to losing it all in the early 80's. My only qualm is that I have been unable to locate the credit for the actor who played John Belushi.

I caught this on TV last night and actually watched the whole thing. These kinds of flicks (tabloid-like, unauthorized biography, etc.) aren't really my thing, but the guy who played Robin Williams really did a fantastic job! Since I'm already a fan of Mr. Williams' work, I couldn't help but root for the Hero in this story - and the guy playing him was really stretched to play the various levels of Robin's character and characters. Kudos to him for what I'm sure was an exhausting effort! I also really liked the guy who did the almost spot-on impression of Garry Marshall. LOVE the teeth! As for the story - it's "unauthorized," so who knows how much TRUTH is in there, but certainly held my attention for the whole 2 hours. Definitely worth a look!