Tuesday 28 September 2010

World's Greatest Dad

A mere thirteen months after its US release, World's Greatest Dad hit UK cinemas last week, and still nobody had heard of it. This is almost certainly down to the World's Worst Poster Campaign, which posited the film as a typically zany Robin Williams family scmaltz-com, when it is in fact the kind of intelligent, thoughtful, occasionally uncomfortable but often hilarious comedy that Wes Anderson wishes he could make. Yeah, I said that.

For the first half-hour, World's Greatest Dad plays out like most difficult-teen / out-of-touch-parent comedies, with former Spy Kids spy kid Daryl Sabara giving a horrifically good performance as the World's Most Wretched, Horny and Permanently Sweaty Son Kyle.

But when the story takes an unexpected turn for the monumentally dark, everyone who thought they'd come to see Licence To Wed 2 will get up and go home in disgust, and good riddance to them.

From this point on the World's Hairiest-Handed Actor provides real heart and soul (you know, the qualities entirely absent from Wes Anderson's films) to a genuinely thought-provoking story, and for once gives us the kind of restrained display you might never have expected from a cross-dressing Scottish tits-on-fire nanny.

Director Bobcat Goldthwait should be congratulated for a) having the World's Greatest Name, b) going from insanest cadet in the Police Academy films to indie legend, and c) giving film students the world over ammo for their essay about motifs in film with the zombie references that litter the script.

Sadly it falls to me to point out the World's Most Insignificant Continuity Error in the trailer: Having just finished printing the manuscript for his novel Door To Door Android, Robin Williams apparently attaches the front page to another story, Darwin's Pool! WHAT A HILARIOUS GAFFE!
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5 comments :

  1. "...it is in fact the kind of intelligent, thoughtful, occasionally uncomfortable but often hilarious comedy that Wes Anderson wishes he could make. Yeah, I said that."

    And I applaud you, sir! World's Greatest Dad was pretty damn good, yeah.

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  2. "From this point on the World's Hairiest-Handed Actor provides real heart and soul (you know, the qualities entirely absent from Wes Anderson's films) to a genuinely thought-provoking story, and for once gives us the kind of restrained display you might never have expected from a cross-dressing Scottish tits-on-fire nanny."

    Um.......
    That WAS Robin Williams (Not an imposter) in his Oscar winning role in the drama "Good Will Hunting" and also in "One Hour Photo" in case ya didn't know.

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  3. Maybe it's my opinion but I wasn't really impressed by the ending of the movie. I understand the whole "redemption" and "emancipation" idea but coming clean just didn't seem to work. It felt like a typical Hollywood morality tale. It had too many stereotypes :typical geek professor, bitch girlfriend fawning over sculpted jock while dating him at her own convenience etc. Besides that, given the impact his book produced, I don't think shattering everyone's faith by coming clean was the best decision taking both himself and the general public into consideraton. I liked the movie till that all-too-predictable end.

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  4. Thanks to your blog I watched this film. What a find! Williams was awesome. I'm glad I didn't miss it.
    BTW, no-one does creepy like Williams, just remember Insomnia or One Hour Photo or The Final Cut.

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  5. Glad to be of service. That makes four of us that have seen it now.

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