|
| |
 |
| |
| Released: |
2009 |
| |
|
| Genre: |
DRAMA
BLACK COMEDY
COMEDY
|
| |
|
| Origin: |
US |
| |
|
| Colour: |
C |
| |
|
| Length: |
99 |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
ANTI Reviews
|
| | | Look, I'm not some namby-pamby crybaby who can't take a harsh joke. I love acerbic humor, I just think it's harder to do than most people give it credit for. It requires a genuine edge that World's Greatest Dad doesn't have. Goldthwait goes for easy targets and even easier shocks. There's no wit in the dialogue, no meaningful satire in this scenario, just a lot of obvious jokes that are meant to appall us but without prodding us to think about why we're appalled. Teenage suicide spun into cult celebrity has already been done and done better in Heathers, and a well-meaning teacher who goes into dark territory was much funnier in Election. World's Greatest Dad isn't even as daringly unlikable as Observe and Report. Those movies had real characters and actual writing; World's Greatest Dad just has borrowed plot devices, a seemingly endless string of musical montages, and slang Bobcat Goldthwait found on the internet. It's the Todd Solondz school of moviemaking, where the demented nerds try to freak out the squares and end up just as miserable as they began. | | | (Jamie S. Rich, DVD Talk) | | | Two faults weaken the effect. One is an overreliance on alt-rock montages (wailing "love is simple," when clearly it ain't); the other is a sudden, climactic narrative switchback that muddies the tone with sentimentality and blunts that Heathers edge. The closing speech and climactic exploit are well shot - and bravely acted, right down to Williams' socks - but they're bogus. After leading the audience into some very inky satire, Goldthwait backs off. | | | (Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle) | | | | A dreary and bizarre drama filled with cynicism and darkness. | | | | (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice) | | | Goldthwait’s screenplay is full of insipid cynicism and gooey sentimentality, and his characters are so irritating, it’s hard to care about their fate. | | | (Cosmo Landesman, Sunday Times) | |
|
|
|
(pictured right),
Claire - Alexie Gilmore (pictured left)
