I can promise that you won't see a more screwed up movie than World's Greatest Dad. Ignore the trailers and TV spots(if you're lucky enough to catch 'em) that make this look like a commercial comedy. It's a comedy, but you'll probably find yourself a bit troubled by exactly what it is you're laughing at. If you're like me, and don't care about such things, you'll be treated to one of the bleakest, most disturbing, and yes hilarious performances of the year.
Robin Williams plays Lance Clayton, a well meaning teacher hosting an unpopular poetry class. Lance has always fancied himself a writer, but he's always been rejected and has all but given up on the idea. Lance's son, Kyle(Daryl Sabara), attends the school as well. Kyle is a douche of the highest order. He's a chauvenistic, perveted scum bag with absolutely no friends except for his smart but troubled buddy, Andrew. Everyone hates Kyle. Lance struggles to connect with Kyle, but is rebuffed at every turn. Lance is dating what has to be the hottest teacher in school(Alexie Gilmore), a woman much younger than he. But he's jealous of her friendly relationship with the much younger, much more athletic, equally intelligent Mike Lane.
Sounds fairly innocent up to this point, right? Well forget it. When Kyle accidentally kills himself David Carradine-style, Lance can't bring himself to let his son be remembered for the way he died. He cooks up a phoney suicide note, full of grandiose comments on life as a troubled, unappreciated teen, things Kyle would never say much less write. Almost overnight, Kyle is deified by everyone at school who hated him, the students, the faculty. His every insult was a cry for help. His disdain for all around him, the gestures of a genius trapped and unchallenged by his peers. It's like a scene out of Heathers taken to the Nth degree. And throughout all this, Lance revels in the idea that his writing is actually being noticed and having an effect on people, even if it means smearing the memory of his own kid in the process. But is it really smearing if you're doing good in the process? Is it ok to allow others to sanctify the dead unjustly? The student body worships Kyle in every way imaginable. His every word is the gospel, his choice in music(Kyle "hated music". "It's gay".) is praised, and Lance keeps up the charade by giving these ignorant slabs exactly what they want.
I've always been a bigger fan of Robin Williams' darker work, whether it be in a film like Insomnia or my favorite, One Hour Photo. Here, his character goes through a subtle transformation from loving father to callous media whore, but the genius is how little Lance actually changes outwardly. To all involved, he's still the same loving, caring father who just wants to do right by his kid. It's that desire to do good that makes Lance such a deliciously fun villain, and make no mistake, Lance is a villain. Goldthwait writes Lance perfectly, aided and abetted by Williams' deft portrayal. He's the type of character you love to hate, but also hope will be redeemed.
Maybe that's my biggest beef with World's Greatest Dad. As twisted as the story goes, there's a concerted effort to give us the All-American happy ending and it doesn't fit with the tone of the rest of the film. Makes me wonder if the Bobcat has gotten a little soft in his older, calmer age. I would've liked to see how this story would've ended if written 10 years ago. It doesn't matter, there's enough maddeningly deranged goodness here for dark comedy fans like me to chew on.
7.5/10
