World's Greatest Dad

I wasn't sure what to expect. My husband had TiVo'd this movie earlier in the week, and my first thought was, "hm, Robin Williams, must be funny." And it is, but not in the way I'd at first thought.

It's more of a dark comedy, slightly more complex than it might appear, and ends on a very fitting note. World's Greatest Dad was written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, which I didn't know til the closing credits rolled~~he also cameos as the limo driver, as seen below. The movie deals with some things that we usually don't discuss, or at least not in polite company. That might seem crass, but I'd say that it's more honest and not in the slightest gratuitous~~it's in your face, and makes no apologies, but that's meaningful in its own way.

Autoerotic asphixiation slams the movie wide open in the first scene and it takes off from there. Daryl Sabara is way good at his role, making you want to slap the snot out of him from the get~go. There is nothing redeeming about his character, and Sabara makes you really believe that.

Robin Williams plays his role without once breaking into his trademark speedspeaking comedic self. He is truly playing a character and Williams does it well. No Patch Adams here! I am really quite impressed. If you're looking for Williams to provide a lighthearted comedy, don't watch this movie; but if you're willing to see some more depth to his characters, I'd say this would be a film to add to that list.

One theme that is played out in this movie is that so often when someone dies, esp a teenager, that person is romanticized and everyone becomes his/her best~friend. The imagined potential somehow becomes reality and that person becomes the focus of much dramatization and overwrought pathos. While not exclusive to the young, as we see from the adults' behaviour in the film, it seems to be more emotive, impressionable, creative peers of Sabara's character Kyle.

I'm glad that My Jerry TiVo'd World's Greatest Dad. I might not have otherwise heard of this movie, let alone decided it was worth a watch. And it definitely is.