World's Greatest Dad (2009)

If you are looking for the typical Hollywood, predictable, cliched, played-out comedy-drama--then this is not for you! I feel it was an artistic attempt to analyze some very disturbing trends in our society and bring them to light in a dark comedy. You will recognize some of the troubling shifts our society has undergone in the last two decades, especially if you are an educator or care at all about our young people. It also has a lot to say about how we as a nation no longer have a genuine closeness to each other, little true togetherness and far little intimacy with our friends, families and partners.

You may think am I am over analyzing or being too deep but comedy is really just an exaggerated tragedy. That's what this film is. It gets the audience to look at some of our cultural weaknesses such as narcissism, superficiality, opportunism, objectification, permissiveness, etc.

Not readily evident, it also explores the ramifications of too many years of "corporatizing" our society--how it's affected the way our schools treat people. As well the corporation has affected how we place value on each other as people.

I know that was a long review, but if you appreciate intelligent comedies this one gets at least a B+.

It amazes me how so many people with the 1 star reviews just want to, no expect to see Robin Williams in just funny slapstick comedies. His performance is right up there with "The Fisher King" yet even darker. Spoiler alert: Dad becomes famous from his dumb ass kid's death from autoerotic asphyxiation. Okay now you know what to expect. So don't rent or buy this film unless you're ready for a extremely dark comedy and I couldn't think of anyone better to pull this off than Robin.

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The problem with all the negative reviews, is that everyone takes World's Greatest Dad way too seriously. The son's attitude is so exaggerated and over the top "not very realistic," that it's ok to laugh at the irony of what ends up happening "again because it's not realistic." If it had been some kind of movie where the son was bullied to the point that he went home and killed himself and it was labeled a comedy, then I could understand people being upset. I almost didn't watch this and the Observe and Report movie because of all the bad reviews. If you're easily offended by dark comedies, then why watch them to begin with?!

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Robin Williams stars in World's Greatest Dad which carries a misleading title that sounds like another family, which I can assure you could not be further from the truth. The film is a dark comedy from controversial director Bob Goldthwait and it's not afraid to bring out some true dysfunction in its characters.

Williams plays Lance Clayton, a high-school teacher thoroughly unhappy with his life. His aspirations of being a writer are dashed with every rejection letter he receives, he watches helplessly as the pretty, young teacher he's been with seems to be falling for a younger, more popular teacher, and (worst of all) his son is an unlikeable pervert. The first time we see his son Kyle (Daryl Sabara, from the Spy Kids movies), Lance has caught him attempting autoerotic asphyxiation. Everything changes when Lance finds Kyle dead from the aforementioned act and sets the scene to look like a standard suicide, along with a fake note.

It's this that puts what Goldthwait is trying for in motion. When "Kyle's" suicide note goes viral at the school, the entire student body (who once despised him) sees him as a hero. This kind of story is particularly relevant considering its release this year. Does any of this sound vaguely similar to the death of Michael Jackson?

World's Greatest Dad is certainly in a league of its own, as far as 2009-movies go. It's a dark comedy, but has just enough of a light tone to make it commercially accessible. I think I would've enjoyed it more than I did without the lighter tone, but I do appreciate the way it presents it's characters. Kyle is portrayed as an unintelligent, foul, thoroughly unlikeable character. Lance is a little more complicated; he cared about his son, but is very much driven by his own selfishness.

Williams is great here, finding a comfortable medium between his manic energy and his more subdued, quiet persona. He plays a character here that is so unhappy; he's right on the edge of sanity. It's one of the best performances I've seen from him in a while.

World's Greatest Dad is a flawed, but darkly amusing film that is frequently hilarious. It's not for all tastes and many will complain that they couldn't empathize with any of the character's, but I recommend just trying to enjoy it based on it's comedic merit. Williams' final eulogy for Kyle is nearly worth the price. While it gets tedious, I do recommend the movie as long as you're aware of what you're about to watch.

GRADE: B

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There are consequences for Robin Williams devoting the vast majority of his film career to churning out family-friendly groaners like "Patch Adams" and "Bicentennial Man." When you've made your career turning out overly sentimental, syrupy schlock then you shouldn't be surprised when your fanbase recoils in horror when you take a chance doing a very dark comedy such as this film. Additionally, people, who normally avoid Robin Williams' usual fair, didn't give this movie a chance probably because he was in it. The end result was that "World's Greatest Dad," despite garnering positive reviews, was in-and-out of movie theaters in a heartbeat. It was a bomb. However, this an interesting film with a very funny, dark comic touch about it.

Robin Williams plays "Lance" a divorced, high school poetry teacher, and frustrated writer. Although he's involved in a sort of relationship with a pretty teacher at his school, she insists it be kept a secret. Meanwhile, much to Lance's bemusement, she's openly (and maybe overly) friendly with the handsome rival English teacher whose creative writing class has little problem drawing students unlike Lance's sparsely attended poetry class. Threatened with his class being cut for budgetary reasons and his dreams of becoming a famous and wealthy author of an "important work" getting more and more farfetched with every rejection letter, Lance is not a happy man.

Adding significantly to his unhappiness is the rotten, selfish, perverted, and loathsome behavior of his only child: his teenaged son, "Kyle" (Daryl Sabara). Kyle is a sex-obsessed moron whose obnoxiousness is burden to his only friend, "Andrew" (Evan Martin) and especially his father. Lance tries to reach out to his son and be involved in his life, but oafish Kyle only rejects and mocks Lance's attempts to be a good dad. Kyle, who attends his father's school, openly embarrasses him in front of his principal, his peers, and his students. Sabara's performance as the perverted Kyle and Williams' Lance attempting to deal with him make for most of the comic highlights of this film. I laughed pretty hard at the interplay of this truly dysfunctional father-son duo.

However, a tragic accident and Lance's attempts to put it in a better light results in a completely unexpected redemption of both Kyle and Lance's dreams. In the end, Lance must decide whether to reveal a truth that will hurt everyone around him, but may also allow him to experience some true happiness.

Why four stars? I laughed pretty hard at many parts of this film especially Sabara's character. That and the hysterical ending made me boost-up this film to four stars. Further, Robin Williams is really good as an unhappy middle-aged schlub who faces a moral dilemna that would tempt a saint. Overall, it's an entertaining dark comedy.

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