Review of Flubber (1997) by Filipeneto — 11 Jun 2018

In my opinion, this is one of the most discreet and little-known films of Robin Williams' career, despite having had a lot of publicity and media coverage when it debuted. It tells the story of a distracted scientist who creates a gelatin-like green substance that has a life of its own and can solve the world's energy problems.

In the midst of all this, his robotic helper falls in love with him and ruins his marriage. The story of the movie starts from an original idea, but it has many flaws and gigantic plot holes. Robin Williams looks good in the main character, although he does not look very motivated.

The actor's tone is much warmer and lazier than usual. Flubber, as a character, was absurdly underutilized in the film, even considering the brilliant musical scene made with this character. The nature of the substance "Flubber" is never clarified, nor is it really alive.

Weebo, the assistant of the scientist played by Williams, ends up becoming the most complete character of the film, with a strong dramatic and psychological depth and well-made humor moments. The villains are good as comic elements but they also were not very developed as characters.

All this harms the film a lot and causes adults to reject it altogether whereas the children, for whom the film is clearly directed, merely laugh at their jokes. We can conclude that this film is a succession of very positive and promising elements that failed because they were not exploited in the best way.

Maybe that's why the movie was never a success. It simply did not stay in the memory of that generation and eventually slipped into oblivion over the years.