Cambridge 2010 Review; WORLD'S GREATEST DAD; Lots of good ideas but poorly executed
rating: 2
Reading the title for the latest Robin Williams comedy, World's Greatest Dad, you could be forgiven for assuming the film is everything the comic has come to represent: a cringe-inducing level of schmultz and sentimentality. This would seemingly be confirmed by the film's conventional poster, which displays the title in huge red font, with the word greatest at a jaunty angle so as to suggest irony and wackiness. I was more or less certain that a father-and-son bonding trip, involving hunting and/or fishing, was in the offing. But less than half way into this comedy, it becomes clear that this is not the family movie of the summer. For starters, Williams' son (Daryl Sabara) is an almighty douchebag (a word used to describe him in the film itself) a fact that never lets up. Another reason the film escapes cuddly family movie status is down to a central plot event. Suffice it to say that not long into the movie there is a sudden tragedy around which the second half of the film hangs (look it up and be stunned but I won't divulge it here). What follows is a film about human falseness, about grief and even about our basic desire to be loved, even at the expense of decency and self-respect. It is an overused term; but World's Greatest Dad is pretty dark. It's comedy of the blackest variety, in which nobody is held up as anything other than an asshole and a fraud. This isn't a cheerful look at the human condition a la Patch Adams. Neither is it Williams in One Hour Photo mode, as World's Greatest Dad tries to operate on the level of a fairly broad comedy balancing precariously and uneasily between Williams' two distinct filmic personae.
Real life tragedy strikes, however, when you realise that the film isn't very funny. Like most films that are full of gags: it has its odd moments. But it misses more often than it hits, thanks largely to uninspired comedy direction from its writer, Bobcat Goldthwait, which often robs quite good dialogue or bits of comic business of their impact. Which is a shame, because as a concept it is a welcome brake from the norm. A brave film with loads of good ideas, poorly executed. Still, it provides long-suffering Williams fans with something better to watch than RV, License to Wed or Old Dogs. I guess that's something.