World's Greatest Dad (2009)

2.0

COMEDY/DRAMA

U.S. Release Date: 09/04/09

Running Length: 99 Minutes

MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, Sexual Situations, Nudity)

Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Cast: Robin Williams, Alexie Gilmore, Daryl Sabara, Evan Martin, Geoffrey Pierson, Henry Simmons

Director: Bobcat Goldthwait

Screenplay: Bobcat Goldthwait

Cinematography: Gerald Brunskill

Music: Horacio Marquinez

U.S. Distributor: Magnolia Pictures

Review by: Carter Moulton

06/15/10

World’s Greatest Dad, which is available on DVD in the United States but has yet to be released in the UK, screened at the festival today. Robin Williams stars as Lance Clayton, an English teacher with a mischievous, fetishistic son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara). We are introduced to Kyle in a scene where he is masturbating with what looks to be a belt or suspenders around his neck. Lance walks in on him, only to make a comment and walk away from the situation. One scene into the movie, we know the title’s sarcastic tone: Lance isn’t the world’s greatest dad; he’s the anti-dad.

The first portion of the film focuses on the relationship between Kyle and Lance. To properly sum up this relationship, consider the following fatherly order: “If you don’t act right at dinner, I’ll stab you in the face.” Kyle, a severely spoiled and manipulative child, is obsessed with pornography, erotic asphyxiation, feces fetishes, and other unconventional sexual tendencies. And so, we get plenty of gross-out dialogue. Director and Writer Bobcat Golthwait inserts this vulgarity at the right times, causing the viewer to despise Kyle.

Unfortunately, other elements of the screenplay falter. The little things don’t gel together. The children say “yo” and “dude” too often, and the teachers say, “Hot dog” and “I’ll say.” I found myself struggling to ignore these little unnatural insertions, but they ended up dragging down the story.

Photo © Magnolia Pictures

Kyle accidentally kills himself while masturbating. Lance, wanting to give his son some dignity, writes a faux suicide letter for his son. This is the most well handled segment of the film. Yes, Kyle was despicable, but he is still Lance’s child. A profile shot showing Lance type his son’s fake suicide letter lingers longer than usual, causing the viewer’s sadness to swell uncomfortably.

The letter is published in the school newspaper—ironic that Lance, who’s attempted to sell books for years and still clings to a dream of being a big-shot author, receives his first publication for something under his son’s name. The school reacts to the letter in an extreme way: Kyle, who was the bottom of the high-school barrel, is now a hero and is obsessively adored by the students.

This is a dark comedy, but the pacing seems off kilter. Lance’s character is inconsistent. One scene shows Lance stop at a magazine stand and stare at the pornography section. He begins to cry, balling his eyes out in front of laminated bare-breasted woman. Lance cries and copes, but at other moments in the film he betrays that image of a sad father.

It can be argued that in this black comedy style, main characters are supposed to be hated and we’re supposed to laugh at the ugliness in humanity. I did laugh, but I didn’t hate Lance. I didn’t like him either; I didn’t care about Lance, so why should I invest more? The shifts between drama and comedy are sharp and uneven, leaving the viewer exhausted, but this exhaustion isn’t a relate-to-Lance exhaustion; there’s an insurmountable distance the viewer is asked to travel. There’s an argument to be made about every film, but I don’t buy the “you’re supposed to feel that way” claim. The acting isn’t very strong either—save Williams—especially in the case of Andrew (Evan Martin), Kyle’s suspicious friend.

Robin Williams is great as always, but even he feels lost in this jumble. His character is also involved in a love triangle with two fellow teachers, but we never get deeper than the surface; it’s merely used for verbal gags. The film attempts to say something about Black politics as well, but stereotypes are withheld, and the opportunity is wasted. World’s Greatest Dad is so preoccupied by multiple surface stories that messages, motifs, and moods are lost.