The World's Greatest Dad

The World's Greatest Dad

The movie The World's Greatest Dad (2009) was written and directed by stand-up comic Bobcat Goldthwait. The film debut at the Sundance Film Festival to great reviews. The film is a dark comedy about a man who learns that the things you want most may not be the things that make you happy and that being lonely is not necessarily the same as being alone.

The main character, Lance Clayton (Robin Williams), is a single parent raising his difficult son. Being a teacher where his son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara), attends makes it even more difficult to deal with the antics his son's is pulling and bad grades he is getting. How do you explain that, being a teacher with the problem child?

Lance has low attendance for his writing class, so there is pressure to cancel the class. He is an aspiring writer who keeps sending out his work that never gets published. His career seems to be sabotaged on all levels.

He is dating a fellow teacher who is younger than him. She insists they keep their relationship secret. All the while, she flirts with other staff members. Lance's world pretty much sucks. Yet, he continues to put up with it all. Now you have one stressed out man!

It is an extreme event in his life that shows him who really cares about him and what is important in life. In these extreme circumstances, he finds himself at the edge and having to make some important decisions.

Robin Williams is an actor who can do it all with style . Everything from comedy to drama. He is the only actor who could have played this role with humor and sensitivity. This is a dark comedy. With the wrong actor, this film could have gone the wrong way and been very unpleasant to watch. That is not the case here!

Williams plays the role so well and pulls us into his world with not just the lines he speaks, but with the reactions on his face. He uses his body to express his feelings. We see the characters ups and downs. We are right there with him, able to empathize with him. The character could be seen very negatively, but Willams is able to shows us the character's intentions.

Add to that a wonderfully written script, great direction, a strong supporting cast and you have one great film. You will laugh, maybe cringe, but in the end you will feel the triumph of this film.

I highly recommend this film to anyone and everyone. I don't know anytime I have seen Robin Williams make anyone look bad. He is a superior actor and he definitely shines in this quirky role. A must see!

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