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| Released: |
2009 |
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| Genre: |
DRAMA
BLACK COMEDY
COMEDY
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| Origin: |
US |
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| Colour: |
C |
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| Length: |
99 |
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A refreshingly nasty comedy. |
Reviewed by Chris Tookey
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Way back in the mists of time, Robin Williams was the hottest comic actor in Hollywood, but over the years he has destroyed his credibility with films notable only for the repulsive glutinousness of their sentiment. I still shudder at the memory of Jack, Bicentennial Man and his most recent assault on family entertainment, Old Dogs.
World’s Greatest Dad could hardly be more different; it’s the most daring and provocative black comedy of the year. It could have been funnier and more creatively shot, but I admire its willingness to be not only vicious, but downright un-American.
Lance Clayton (Williams) is a failed writer, dull schoolteacher and ineffectual father, with an obnoxious teenage son called Kyle (former Spykid Daryl Sabara). Kyle is a maladjusted, perverted, sexist, homophobic bully who despises everybody, especially his dad.
Lance’s miserable existence takes a distinct turn for the better when Kyle accidentally hangs himself during a session of auto-asphyxiation.
Embarrassed by Kyle’s sordid demise, Lance fakes it to look like suicide and pens first a note and then an entire diary, which turn his dead son into a folk hero. Book-publishing deals, undeserved celebrity and a much improved sex life beckon for Lance, if only he can keep his dirty little secret.
Though a tad too slow and light on gags, this is a bold and wonderfully vitriolic attack by writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait on vulgarity, sentiment and the kind of facile, pseudo-redemptive tosh that is popular nowadays on both sides of the Atlantic.
It’s so relentlessly dark, creepy and anti-sentimental that it looks like some kind of humiliating penance by Williams for the cinematic sins of his past.
Fans of movies like Eat Pray Love should steer well clear, as should anyone who talks of life or appearing on The X Factor as a “journey”, but if you enjoyed the pitch-black humour in Heathers or Bad Santa and usually feel nauseous in pictures that star Robin Williams, this one’s for you.
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(pictured right),
Claire - Alexie Gilmore (pictured left)
