World's Greatest Dad

Robin Williams is a man of two halves, the brilliant 'The Fisher King', 'One Hour Photo' and 'Insomnia' to name but a few and the rubbish 'Flubber', 'Patch Adams' etc. His work never seems to have any grey area he is either proving he can act or acting the fool. In his latest role as Lance Clayton in Bobcat Goldthwait's (yep the guy out of Police Academy) 'World's Greatest Dad' he is once again showing us he's still got what it takes as he tackles the role of a father who loses his son to a tragic accident. This though is no straight drama and contains humour that is very dark indeed. Lance is an aspiring writer who can't seem to get published, he is also a teacher who runs a very poorly attended poetry class and the father to Kyle, perhaps the most obnoxious kid to ever grace our screens. After an accident presents an interesting opportunity for Lance he grabs it by both hands and runs with it until it reaches its unnatural conclusion. Well acted and directed this is a film that would sit perfectly with say Junebug, Thumbsucker, Igby Goes Down and Wonder Boys as one of those quirky small town America trag-coms that you find yourself laughing at even when you shouldn't and one that can at times make your skin crawl ever so slightly. Like finding yourself staring at a car crash you won't be able to look away as the pacing draws you through the story with ease and although it deals with matters that are slightly taboo its ultimately an enjoyable watch and one which cements Williams reputation as a comic actor adapt at playing the wounded human soul.

Normally you review a film by comparing it to something.

There's nothing like this. Dealing with highly uncomfortable and totally understandable scenarios, while occasionally managing to be outright hilarious while never letting go of the central theme of how we see ourselves in our deceased.

Not for everyone, but if you get it....

This movie worked very well as a dark comedy. It followed no set boundaries and goes its own way. The results are incredibly dark, sometimes being almost twisted. There are some scenes where the viewer doesn't know whether to laugh or feel sad. Robin Williams delivers his best performance in a while as Lance Clayton, a struggling writer striving for success and hell-bent on not dying alone. I personally found it rather impressive that it was both written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait because I'm personally not too big of a fan of his stand-up and this was a far departure from it. However, the one thing that I saw as holding the movie back was its climax, which I believed took the right route, but could have been more powerful or had a bit more of a sting to it. Overall, this movie, like Observe and Report released earlier in 2009, won't be for everyone, but it works very well in its own way.

I don't understand how this can be called a comedy. This is a depressing movie with a depressing begining, a depressing middle and a depressing ending.

This movie is a portrait of a pathetic loser, who fails at his passion, at raising his son and at the only good thing in his life, the relationship to his beautiful teacher collegue. There is no irony, no playfulness, no dark humor, just misery. It's about as funny as watching a car crash. How this is supposed to be funny? I don't know.

As a drama it works pretty well though. If it would have been advertised as that, i might have liked it. The saving grace for me was the great performances, especially the always amazing Robin Williams.

I loved the characterisation of this movie: Robin Williams is one of those actors you have to like. So when, as in this movie, he plays someone who is sweet and kind and weak and crawling through moral quicksand, the resulting conflict you feel has you laughing out loud and wringing your hands with anxiety all at the same time.

The plot is original and comes with a couple of unforgettable twists. The dialogue is sharp, the humour dark. The moral compass is spinning wildly, but it straightens up for us in the end.

There is a quote at the end of the movie that really struck a chord with me.

"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone, but it's not. The worst thing is ending up with people who make you feel all alone."

Brilliant.