World’s Greatest Dad
I grew up watching Mrs. Doubtfire and Jumanji over and over again as a child, and Robin Williams: Live On Broadway momentously marked my introduction to stand-up comedy, but out of all the phenomenal roles that span such a sprawling, giving career, no Robin Williams film has stuck with me more than Bobcat Goldthwait’s pitch-black dramedy, World’s Greatest Dad.
Goldthwait and Williams were a creative duo sent from the heavens, because Goldthwait isn’t afraid to write challenging, morally poignant stories, and Williams wasn’t afraid to bring those emotional gambles to life. World’s Greatest Dad was made for Robin Williams, because no actor could balance such heartbreaking emotional lows with the darkest, most despicable comedy possible – going unthinkable places for the sake of brutal honesty.
Explaining anything about Goldthwait’s story would be doing a disservice to any World’s Greatest Dad virgins, but Williams’ performance is nothing short of a revelation. The way he opens himself up to such tragedy, yet then embraces a character who then spins his life-altering event towards moral grounds only the lowliest of low would travel, there’s no one with the courage out there to completely envelop themselves in such a role – yet still make us laugh heartily throughout.
In a twisted, beyond rational way, World’s Greatest Dad is about breaking your shackles, and the emotional range Williams brings spans the saddest, most somber wailings of sorrow to raw self-reflection and joyful jubilation. What’s billed as a dark comedy ends up being a highly radiant and pertinent role for Williams, because it lets him express a comfortable cynicism that only someone close like Goldthwait could draw out. World’s Greatest Dad can be called a lot of things, from unconventional to utterly f#cked in the head, but one thing that can’t be denied is Williams’ hypnotic performance as a father that none of us could even pretend to be, given the same circumstances.
In a matter of minutes, Robin Williams could have you reaching for a tissue to wipe away tears of sadness, only to have you repeat the same action to wipe away tears brought on by laughter, and this uncanny ability is highlighted by a beautifully disturbed turn in World’s Greatest Dad – a turn that deserves a hero’s exit.
– Matt Donato