Robin Williams in World's Greatest Dad
Photo: Magnolia Pictures

When it came to World's Greatest Dad, written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, all I had heard from people was what a great comedy it was. Unfortunately the majority of this sentiment was coming from the online community, a community I tend to disagree with when it comes to comedy. And with it starring Robin Williams, I was hardly interested in watching Williams bounce himself around a Goldthwait movie yelling loud and selling every joke as if it were his last. I tend to avoid trailers and hadn't seen an ounce of footage and knew nothing of the product I was pre-judging. Fortunately, I didn't allow these factors to cause me to avoid this film altogether. World's Greatest Dad is nothing like I had expected. Instead it's a well thought out satirical drama with comedy so subtle you won't find yourself laughing out loud, but you'd have to be completely missing the point if you weren't smiling most of the way.

Williams plays Lance Clayton, a high school poetry teacher with dreams of a writing career that has failed every step of the way. He's secretly dating Claire (Alexie Gilmore), the school's art teacher and his high-school aged son Kyle (Daryl Sabara) is the child from hell. Kyle's fantasies are spelled out in the most graphic of pornographic photos and his status as a loner with only one friend is none-too-surprising. He's unlikable in every way and don't worry, he doesn't like you either. If you like music (any music) you're a "faggot" according to Kyle. If you like movies you're no better.

The story hinges on Lance's relationship with Kyle as well as Lance's consistent search for success and popularity. However, as tragedy happens, opening the door for Lance to walk through and find all the success he's ever wished for, he will find himself face-to-face with a lot of the ugliness society has to offer. The question is whether or not he can handle the path he's taken to get there and the world that surrounds him as a result.

The best part of World's Greatest Dad is the fact it is a comedy without overtly trying to be. It manages this by looking no further than society for its humor and it doesn't use traditional comedic setups as much as it simply allows life to happen and relies on the audience to find the humor in the situations presented. Goldthwait's characters visibly laugh at the everyday life they are satirizing and it feels nonetheless real as a result.

Casting Robin Williams, in my opinion, is both a blessing and a curse, but it depends solely on which Williams are you looking to cast. For the past few years we've seen Williams in sight gag comedies such as License to Wed and RV. He couldn't even stop yucking it up in Man of the Year when his character was running for President of the United States. That was the Williams I feared I was going to get. Instead, we get a dry-humored, restrained and down-to-earth Williams that knows how to chew up a scene when given the proper material, which is exactly what he does here and Goldthwait directs this picture with more style and substance I would have ever expected.

This isn't to say World's Greatest Dad is a film for everyone. As a matter of fact I would bet the majority of moviegoers won't be interested in this film whatsoever, but that's to be expected considering the nature of the comedy, the path the film follows and what the viewer will find at the end. It's not necessarily a coming of age story, and everything Lance does throughout the picture is not the example of a character of good moral fiber, but where his life is at the end compared to where it was at the beginning can strangely be looked at as a life lesson for us all.

This film isn't necessarily perfect, but it dips its toes in perfection along the way. I can only assume additional viewings will allow for an even greater appreciation for what World's Greatest Dad has to offer, and in my world that's saying a lot.

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