Review of World's Greatest Dad (2009) by Julian A — 09 Sep 2010

I really enjoyed the thought behind this one: Somebody dies in this one. The life of this fatality is insignificant, as nobody liked him and for good reason. His life seemed to be equal parts petty self-gratification and making everyone else miserable, especially those who were closest to him.

Yet by the climax of the movie, he's being hailed as a misunderstood genius with insight into the nature of the human soul. Something doesn't quite match here, and the link in question is the father of the deceased.

Robin Williams tamps it down for this one, and the character he brings to life is probably the most sympathetic I've seen from Williams since Good Will Hunting. Two issues cloud my enjoyment here, though: One is that for all the depth of Williams' Lance Clayton, there's not a single other character with more than one dimension.

Secondly, the writer/director Goldthwait claims (didactically) that the movie is about escaping loneliness, and I would argue that the content of the film doesn't really speak to that, except in parts.

I see this as a movie about legacy, and how we can effect or eclipse that.