Review of World's Greatest Dad (2009) by Mike S — 09 Oct 2010

In WORLD'S GREATEST DAD, Robin Williams gives the best performance he's given in years. Portraying a struggling writer who has yet to have anything actually published, as well as a father of a very troubled teenager, Williams instantly connects with the audience in a way that he hasn't in quite a while.

It is true that there are few likable characters (if any, really) in this film, but Williams' Lance Clayton is about as close as it comes to such a character. Stuck between a troubled child and a seemingly personally unrewarding career in education, Clayton suffers the accidental death of his son. Instead of facing the embarrassment of telling people how his son actually died, he fabricates a suicide note, which becomes a literary sensation at the school he works in.

WORLD'S GREATEST DAD is primarily a tale about how society elevates the deceased into more of a legend than he or she may actually have been. It's taken to an extreme here, as Clayton's initial gesture of trying to save both himself and his son's memory the embarrassment of the truth surrounding his death eventually turns out-of-control, spreading out into various forms of media, catching Clayton up in it all.

The supporting cast is all around quite solid, but Williams is the undisputed star of the piece, and the one who turns in the best performance. He relies on very few of his usual gags that we've seen become a staple of his work as of late, and his willingness to take on such dark and unusual piece of work such as this is very much appreciated, and it clearly energizes his work on the screen.