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Home Subscribe About Us Features News Album Reviews Movie Reviews Past Movies Movie Resources Concert Reviews Book Reviews Top 10 Contact Us	World’s Greatest Dad Stars: Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, Alexie Gilmore, Geoff Pierson, Henry Simmons, Evan Martin, Mitzi McCall and Bruce Hornsby as himself Director/Scriptwriter: Bobcat Goldthwait Composer: Gerald Brunskill Darko Productions Rating: R for sexuality, disturbing scenes, drug use and language Running Length: 100 minutes Bobcat Goldthwait directing Robin Williams in a film? You read that right. World’s Greatest Dad is a dark comedy/drama with Robin Williams giving his best performance in years as a teacher with a troubled teenage son. I don’t know how much of the dialogue was actually used by Williams, whose toss-off lines could have been improvised, but we get the story of a divorced man with a son who is less than perfect and neither knows how to reach the other. The film begins with an apt title, The End. From there, we go into the world of Lance (Robin Williams) who is a high school English teacher teaching poetry classes. The camera follows him through his day of driving the rebellious son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara from the “Spy Kids” films) to school, trying to blend in with the hip teachers (one is Mike played by Henry Simmons) and still ending up a nerd, romancing another teacher (Claire played by Alexie Gilmore) in stairwells and going home at night to yet another bout with the son. Fatherhood has new meaning here, and apparently Mom (never shown) has a new boyfriend, so that’s why Kyle lives with Dad. Robin’s neighbor, who doesn’t like Kyle, is played by Mitzi McCall and we find out why she doesn’t have visitors. Gradually, we learn of Kyle’s raging hormones, foul language, attitude toward other students especially girls, and sexual fantasies. Kyle has one friend, Andrew (Evan Martin) whom he emotionally abuses, but Andrew has problems at home, so hangs around Kyle’s house. When Robin invites Kyle to join he and Claire on a dinner date, Kyle comes along and acts rudely to Claire, who calls his bluff. It is afterward, when Robin drops Kyle off at home and takes Claire to her place, that a major situation develops and the direction of the film goes at a right angle. Here is tragedy with a capital “T” and how Robin handles it speaks of fatherhood, chivalry and a chance to be the person he thought he wanted to be. His decisions have long-lasting effects. The teachers are caricatures of people we can relate to. The hip teacher who does everything perfect and has the popular classes, but in a marriage that is falling apart. The principal who thinks he knows the kids but treats them as numbers on a chart, or the teenage kid who appears meek and helpless, but actually doesn’t miss a thing. Teen years are a wreck sometimes, and the kids here have their own language, and can take just about anything to idolize. Robin’s poetry class, that decreases, increases and decreases in size with the popularity of other teachers is well done. You never know if what the kids write is from real experience or not and it can be harrowing. You can relate to Lance, who never seems to have the courage to attempt anything and when he does, is it the right time? World’s Greatest Dad is really a look at how people act in various situations. In Robin’s life, there is the school face, the at-home face and the face with Claire. But who, really is Robin, and that’s what Goldthwait’s script seems to be asking us. Who are we, really and what are we hiding? Copyright Marie Asner