User reviews

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.

Suburbia has transformed from an innocent place with friendly neighbors to a world full of miserable, sometimes disturbed people, dreams deferred, and earth-shattering secrets. From this year's Sundance Film Festival we have Bobcat Goldthwait's dark comedy World's Greatest Dad, we delve once again into the unknown of Any Town, USA.

This film mainly takes place in a school setting, but the themes and conflicts that arise coincide with those found in other films about suburbia. Robin Williams stars as struggling writer Lance Clayton. He lives with his son Kyle (Daryl Sabara), a porn obsessed, perverted teenager who attends the private school Lance teaches a not-so-popular poetry elective. There is tough love between the two. It's a typical teenager vs. the parent relationship only the censors have been turned off.

Lance is dating another teacher on staff, Claire (Alexie Gillmore), who he suspects isn't totally committed to their relationship. Life isn't getting any easier for Lance who struggles to reach his students or find a publisher for his work. When things couldn't get any worse, Lance suffers a blow few could recover from. From tragedy comes opportunity and it is up to Lance to decide what is the right thing to do.

It would be wrong of me to give away the tragedy, but it is something that does occur in Any Town, USA. In fact it happened not too long ago just a town over from me. It's the first time I can think of it being used in a film, or at least of this magnitude. There are several times during the film that I felt uncomfortable, but not to the point of disgust. There are some pretty heavy issues handled here and I think it is tasteful.

Williams does a fine job, especially in the second half of the film. For a comedian I can imagine it being difficult to change emotionally like that, but Williams has proved time after time in films like Good Will Hunting, One Hour Photo, and Insomniac that he can play just about any role thrown at him. He has a presence that is very real and powerful.

I was surprised by Sabara's performance as Kyle. I had only seen him in Spy Kids so I really didn't know what to expect. He seemed to have a clear idea of who Kyle was and what is motives are.

Goldthwait, who also wrote the screenplay, tackles a lot of issues both for adults and teenagers. At first I thought the film was going to end up like last years Towelhead, a hodgepodge of issues and conflicts that are each could have been their own film, but here we have an even dosage of each, culminating to a great finale and realization by William's character.

The film isn't perfect. One thing I don't like films to do is talk about other films. I feel like it is only a way for the writer to show off his movie knowledge and personal views about certain movies, although one segment involving zombie movies is relevant to the story. Occasionally it can be beneficial. Some of the scenes were a bit overdone with cheesy, overused dialogue, and some of the deliveries felt like they were just saying their lines and not really connecting with them.

Overall I was impressed. Goldthwait is not a big time filmmaker but this is certainly a step in the right direction (he has acted in several films and worked on other projects behind the camera). Williams gives one of his better performances as of late, but he doesn't steal the show. I thought the story was good enough to stand on its own, which is a very good thing. I hope this film doesn't get completely overlooked this year. You should try to see this one if you can.

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.

A very great (maybe even underrated?) performance by Robin Williams. We are used seeing him all over the place going all "Flubber" on us (not only in that specific movie, but in general). But if you expect him to be like that in this movie, you will be very disappointed. Of course same goes for the comedy/humor in the movie. It's obvious, but it's not laugh out loud moments you'll encounter.

It is more a social study, where a man tries to do the right thing. Emphasis on "tries" in this case. The dialogue is really good and all the performances are on the spot. I liked the social commentary that underlies the whole movie, but it might not be your cup of tea.

World's Greatest Dad (2009)

*** (out of 4)

One of the blackest of all black comedies features Robin Williams as Lance, a failed teacher, failed boyfriend and failed father to an obnoxious pervert (Daryl Sabara) who masturbates too much, is hated by everyone and who has no real purpose in life. After a tragedy and a lie the father must then come to terms with something that I won't ruin here. When people think of Goldthwait, 99% of them are going to think of the crazy guy from the POLICE ACADEMY films and only 1% are going to know him as a filmmaker. SHAKES THE CLOWN has gained a cult following over the years and there's no doubt that this film will eventually be looked at as not a great movie but one that after watching you'll want to stand up and applaud the filmmakers for delivering something completely original and different. It's hard to really describe this movie because it's best that you go into it without knowing all of the details and how we get to the events in the second half. I'm sure you could show this movie to a hundred people and each one of them would walk away feeling the movie was about something different. I think the film certainly shines the spotlight on parenthood, teen suicide and how we worship celebs and how those celebs even become famous. The movie has so many layers that people are going to take different things away from it but I really respected the comedy of the first half and then the drama of the second. The first half of the movie is full of vulgar situations as the loser son offends one person after another and the viewer can't help but hate him. There's never an attempt to make us like him and that's usually not a good thing in a comedy if you hate the leading man. We're not even given a reason to like the father played by Williams, although I'm sure one could feel sorry for him because of how big of a loser he is to everyone around him. If you do find yourself caring for him then that might change after the events in the second half of the movie. Everyone was informed about Williams and his full frontal nudity but more people should really look at his terrific performance. I guess raw might be a simple word but the entire Williams persona is cleaned away and we're seeing a performance from him that we haven't seen before. I've always felt that he was a better dramatic actor than a comedic one but he handles both sides extremely well here. Sabara is just as great as the perverted son and Alexie Gilmore is wonderful as Williams' girlfriend. The film hits on all sorts of rather taboo subjects but for the most part is looks them directly in the face and doesn't back down. I'm sure the subject matter might be too much for certain film fans but I think those looking for a rather brave and original piece of film-making is going to at least respect what we get here even if they find themselves feeling uncomfortable.

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.

This is one of the best films I have seen in awhile. I have heard complaints that the acting is terrible, the acting wasn't bad at all. The characters were supposed to be very shallow and that shallowness was heavily exaggerated. But when the acting needed to be there it came across at magnum force. I would say that much of the movie has a cartoony feel, maybe that is because the only other work I would compare this film to is South Park. They amplify each characters ego and traits to the point it is cartoonish but it works very well in this film, as well as South Park. It switches back and forth between comedy and drama to the point you don't know what you are watching. Maybe many people didn't appreciate it for this reason. But then there are some weirdos that don't like South Park either. Go figure.

You could look at this film in a few ways, it makes you question things. At first it appears that the Dad is doing the right thing for his Son, then for his students and then for himself. You keep wondering where or if he will draw the line. It also makes you wonder what people will do for attention even if they must be a muse. It makes me wonder how many times something like this has occurred in the real world and how many times we have read or heard about it.

Robin Williams should be proud of this one, Oscar worthy performance. Daryl Sabara is incredible. He has covered quite a bit in his short career but this one should put him in the special class of young actors. I really liked Lorraine Nicholson's character Heather, she pulled off the Goth chick flawlessly. I also enjoyed the little shout out to Simon Pegg when Lance is talking to his neighbor about zombie movies.

Bottom line, many people will not connect with this film because it is very "artsy" and somewhat taboo. But it is a great film. Way to go Bobcat!

PLEASE NOTE: I know that there are those who will disagree with my rating of World's Greatest Dad. But I rate movies based in part on how much I enjoyed them, and that significant part of my personal rating system is based almost solely on a comparison with other movies I've liked. I try to stay fair with those comparisons and, given other movies I've rated higher, this is the best I could do for World's Greatest Dad. In honesty, it's somewhat better than that, but the comparitive scale I use left me with the rating you see here.

I first heard about World's Greatest Dad when comedian Bobcat Goldthwait was being interviewed on a popular morning radio show. I was leery since I'm not a big Bobcat Goldthwait fan, but the show hosts raved about the movie, and film festival attendees seemed to agree. So did a good friend of mine who happens to be a fellow movie fanatic. How could I not take the chance, then, to see World's Greatest Dad on pay per view? The first thing we learn from World's Greatest Dad is that Lance Clayton (Robin Williams) isn't the man he thought he'd be. He's a writer, but he's never been published. He's a teacher, but his poetry class is decidedly unpopular. He's a father, but his son Kyle (Daryl Sabara) is a disappointment. And although he has a pretty girlfriend—the high school art teacher (Alexie Gilmore)—she refuses to take their relationship public.

Despite repeated rejections, Lance hasn't given up on writing. And he certainly isn't giving up on his relationship with Claire even though he suspects she's interested in another teacher (Henry Simmons). But his son? That's a tougher choice. Kyle is crude, inexcusably rude, sometimes deliberately cruel, and not terribly bright to boot. Although Lance loves his son, he can't make himself like him. But when a sudden tragedy turns Lance's life upside down, he realizes he also has an opportunity to turn his life around and, in the process, influence everyone around him in a positive way. All he has to do is decide whether or not to grab the brass ring.

We all know that Robin Williams is both a brilliant comedian and a very good actor. This may be the first role that's really let him be both simultaneously, and he's a tour de force in this film. Daryl Sabara is good, too. He holds his own in scenes with Williams, and he had me believing in his portrayal of Kyle strongly enough that there were moments I really wanted to deck him—much as I suspect his father did at the time. Alexie Gilmore, Henry Simmons, Geoffrey Pierson (who plays the school principal), Evan Martin (as Kyle's best friend, Andrew), and Lorrain Nicholson (Jack Nicholson's daughter, all but unrecognizable as Kyle's goth classmate) all give solid supporting performances.

Bobcat Goldthwait wrote a clever and funny script, and then directed it beautifully. He claims he doesn't like teenagers (and seeing the way they behave in this movie, I can't think of too many people who won't agree with him), but he surely understands them! A friend who raised two boys said the portrayal was, unfortunately, entirely realistic; I was reminded of several high school classmates myself when I watched World's Greatest Dad. Fortunately, we can appreciate the funny and the horrible alike when we're watching it on screen even as we shudder at our own more personal experiences.

The set decoration is entirely realistic with some amusing (but believable) quirks. The camera work is nicely handled including a few moments of judicious slow motion; one camera angle in particular adds so much to the pain of a poignant moment that my breath caught for just a moment (as was likely intended) when I saw it.

BOTTOM LINE: Given the combination of a good idea, a solid script, terrific actors, and a gifted director, I'd have to say that World's Greatest Dad would be a treat for people who really love film making however they happen to feel about teenagers themselves. Many of the rest of the grown-ups out there would likely enjoy it, too.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: World's Greatest Dad is rated R for "language, crude and sexual content, some drug use, and disturbing images." This is probably about right. While many things aren't too shocking for kids as young as 13 or 14, there are a few things (which I won't discuss here so as not to ruin some nicely twisted parts of the plot) that are well beyond what you may want your younger teen to see.

POLITICAL NOTES: There's nothing either overtly or subtly political about World's Greatest Dad. But when I saw the blatant hypocrisy of the high school students on full blown display, I couldn't help but think of the politicians who will do and say anything just to stay popular with the voters. I suspect that if they grew up (like the vast majority of teenagers eventually do), our country would be the better for it.

Just watched this at the Sundance Film Festival. Absolutely great film. Dark, smart comedy in the spirit of Rushmore. The Bobcat is BACK! Very good cast; great soundtrack. He uses very real issues to simply tell a story about the relationship between an ungrateful punk kid and a painfully weak father. In the Q&A after the film, Bobcat pointed out that most of the comedies being made these days are basically R-rated films made for 13-year-olds (mindless, raunchy, etc.). World's Greatest Dad is a comedy for adults: insightful, original, uncomfortable at times...hilarious. Robin Williams manages to be miserable, mean, touching, and funny without any conflict at all, an inspired break from his traditional roles.

When you are a father I can imagine it is extremely difficult to distinguish the line between being a friend and being a disciplinarian. I'm sure things are further complicated when your son or daughter's purpose in life seems to be to make your life miserable. What do you do when your child appears to hate you? An even more interesting question: What do you do when you don't even like your own child? These are questions explored in Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad, which is in my opinion one of the best dark comedies of 2009.

As a high school teacher, Lance Clayton (Robin Williams) has tried his whole life to have his writings published but has always failed. However, after a bizarre incident involving his son, Lance has the source material available to write some of his best works, which eventually receive national acclaim. At first Lance appears to enjoy his newly found success, but then he begins to realize that his achievements are occurring at the expense of his son. Lance loves his son, but because he does not trust or respect him he believes it is okay to achieve success at his expense. However, after his works are published he begins to realize that though he may not always like his son, he loves him and has certain responsibilities toward him.

Overall, World's Greatest Dad works best as a dark, raunchy comedy, yet there is also an interesting and original story about a father and son that keeps the viewer entertained. So if you are looking for a raunchy comedy and you have to choose between re-watching one of the Judd Apatow films (40 Year Virgin, Funny People, Knocked Up) or World's Greatest Dad, check out Robin William's latest film on Instant Netflix. It's one of his best of the last decade.

Suddenly today was the day I wanted to watch a movie. Not a typical everyday thriller/action flick with all the explosives and hot babes. I just wanted to watch a movie that made me chuckle and think at the same time.

So I searched through Google for indie movies. I prefer watching indie movies. They have this kind of weird, but cool feel to it while you are watching it. So I found a list of 25 indie movies for 2009, and I found a nifty trailer for this movie. I must say it had me laughing out loud like a fool, but it was great.

That inspired me to watch this dark humor film. Robin Willians as the meek, gentle Lance, and Daryl Sabara as the douchebag son Kyle. From what I seen this was one of Robin Williams tamed roles. None other less he played the character very well. Wow; I was surprise Daryl Sabara was in this movie. The last movie I saw him was in Spy kids; his role in this movie was jaw dropping. Considering how his character was portrayed.

In overall this movie was funny as hell, but also in some parts made you widen your eyes and gasp. I would recommend this movie very much.

World's Greatest Dad is a very dark comedy starring Robin Williams. Chances are, reading the title and the movie starring Robin Williams, you'd think it was a Disney family movie but this was far from it. This movie was a hard R-rated film involving serious issues. Now, it seems every time Williams is doing drama, the film requires him to do something comedic, but that's not the reason I prefer him in comedy. I found this movie very depressing and not funny in the least bit. Well in the first half of the film, it was intended to be funny, but I didn't find it. So, 'World's Greatest Dad is basically two movies in one. The second half of the film when Lance Clayton's son is no longer present (I won't give anything away) is definitely the better half. If you must see this picture, I implore you to watch the better half. The film as a whole just isn't worthy of this material, at least not with Robin Williams. One aspect of the movie I didn't care for was Kyle. Yes, he's supposed to be unlikeable, but I did not find him particularly unlikeable. The character instead comes off as weird. If he's supposed to unpleasant, then there should have been a lot more unpleasantness to him. I also didn't enjoy the relationship between Lance and Clair. It wasn't very memorable or interesting. There should have been something more going on between them. The movie is really not that of a comedy but of a dark comedy.

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.

World's Greatest Dad was a very interesting and unexpected comedy/drama. I wasn't sure where the story was going after the first 20 mins but it took a quick plot twist and completely flipped upside down. Robin Williams character tries to cover up his sons accidental death as a suicide and a series of events snowball from there where Robin falls into a web of lies. It was an interesting and original story with some good comedic relief and it made you question his decisions and morals. Overall I enjoyed it and was actually surprised that it was a decent movie. It's worth the watch for sure. IMDb get rid of this character minimum.

WORLDS GREATEST DAD feels like a well-deserved smack in the face. Tragedy happens every day and our self-centered culture leaps in to turn the event into a grandiose communal affair. Immediate world-wide exposure seems to open the door for each and every one of us to adhere ourselves to tragic misfortunes of others and become a superstar. It's not a pleasant truth, but a truth that was well characterized in this movie. As a parent of teenagers, the abrupt 360 degree attitudinal shift of the kids seemed entirely realistic. Teenagers thrive on group think and group drama and attention. Each kid portrayed reminded me of kids I know - they were fabulous actors. I run into the indulgent & blinded parental approach adopted by Robin Williams all the time, it felt entirely plausible. Loved this movie and it left me thinking about all sorts of themes for days and days. If you are thinking about starting a family - see this movie. If you have a family - see this movie. If you work with kids - see this movie. If you have thoughts of self-promotion in relation to another's misfortune - see this movie. If you prefer to be smacked in the face with a lot of humor to balance the pain - see this movie!

Robin Williams films are always a risk; some are brilliant, some bad, some mediocre. This one is difficult, it starts off like one of the bad ones, but takes a turn part way through. Up until then, the son is so obnoxious that you wonder why you are still watching the film, why waste sympathy on a looser, and his Dad who can't see why his son is a problem.

However it turns out that this is the clever part of the film, it is necessary to set up for what follows. Daryl Sabara should be commended for his acting of Kyle, it is hard to imagine the character being played better (worse) by anyone. At the end of the film, it is possible to realise that it is a clever comment on people and their attitude to others; and like any good film gives you plenty to think about over the following week.

What did let this film down was that there was nothing to carry the audience through the first part, which was quite lengthy. Without a warm character to relate to, or a ray of hope to cling on to, the likelihood is that the film will lose its audience before it gets to the meat of the film. If you do stick it out, you find it very moving in places, so a dark comedy; and quite sharp on its criticism of the fickleness of human nature, but at the same time the steadfast nature of true friendship. It was certainly a brave film to make, as it could have easily failed at the box office.

Horrible story, rotten acting and depressing as all get out. I do not know how movies like this get made. If you have a son, then don't watch this piece of garbage. It is depressing and it would be a very far stretch to call this a comedy. Any movie that has a tragic death as a focal point can not be labeled a comedy.My wife and I never laughed once. Robin Williams is funny actor with a penchant for making bad movies.

I disliked this movie so much that I felt compelled to write a review, something I have never done and probably won't do again, but I felt it needed to be told how horrible the movie was.

I expected Robin Williams to make me laugh, not to expose a disturbing but thankfully small segment of deviant teenage behavior. Avoid this movie at all cost.

This depressing movie was billed as a comedy but was far, far from amusing or even interesting. It was really too uncomfortable to watch. Whilst it's true that some of the acting was good, the subject matter was so distasteful it rendered enjoyment impossible. Robin Williams' enormous talent ranges from extremely funny, as in The Birdcage to extremely unfunny as in One Hour Photo. World's Greatest Dad well and truly sees him in the latter.

Williams plays a teacher and unsung poet who has been unsuccessful in his quest to become published, even though he has submitted quality work over many years.

As a single father he has an extremely difficult relationship with his utterly detestable teenage son. When tragedy strikes, Williams inadvertently realises his dream of fame but it comes at a cost.

I cannot recommend this movie to anyone who is looking to be entertained. Despite flashes of humour, it was very dark and very unpleasant. I won't be watching it again. There are simply too many excellent movies to waste viewing time on ones of this ilk.

This movie deserves 10 stars for Robin Williams' acting but 1 star or less for content and enjoyment. I'm absolutely no prude but the idea that anyone could find suicide and sexual deviancy in any way humorous or entertaining is as repugnant as was this movie. Not for me and, I suspect, not for many normal people either.