World's Greatest Dad (Bobcat Goldthwait, 2009)

For me, 2009 was a year that consisted predominately of both colossal disappointments and pleasant surprises. Thankfully, Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad, starring Robin Williams, is one of the latter. I was intrigued merely by Williams' starring in the film as well as the overwhelmingly-positive critical reception. Unfortunately, the film slipped under the radar and was confined to a limited theatrical release. In the midst of all the other films I had my eye on at the time, I admittedly forgot about it entirely. It even managed to avoid an extensive list of upcoming DVD releases that I maintain. A week after it was released, I noticed it on the shelf at MovieStop and snagged a copy once my memory of film resurfaced. Sadly, this sort of thing seems to happen every time Robin Williams takes on a more serious role. That is not to say that World's Greatest Dad is necessarily a 'serious' film, however. To the contrary, it is a dark yet strangely hysterical movie (ie. dark comedy). Furthermore, it is well-written, well-acted, and succeeds at establishing an extraordinary emotional connection with the viewer; one that is rather uncanny, but it works. Though there are several films from 2009 that I have yet to view, World's Greatest Dad is above and beyond the best I have seen thus far.

The story revolves around Lance Clayton (Williams), a failed author in the sense that he has not been able to get any of his work published. Moreover, he is a high school poetry teacher whose class enrollment is so low that the course is in danger of being removed from the curriculum. To make matters worse, he is becoming increasingly uneasy in his secretive relationship with a fellow teacher, Claire (Alexie Gilmore). Finally - and most significantly - his son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara - whom you may recognize from Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween, in which he plays a bully that is beaten to death by a young Michael Myers), is a twisted, strikingly perverted miscreant. Kyle is obsessed with pornography and masturbating (and literally nothing else, it would seem). This obsession teeters on the edge of the extreme due to his fascination with exceptionally vulgar things (such as German Shiza pornography) and his experimenting with asphyxiation while masturbating. What is worse is the fact that his obscenity is far from limited to these (mostly) private endeavors, as he is a complete jerk to everyone he encounters - even his father and his "best friend," Andrew (Evan Martin).

Unfortunately for Lance, all of these dilemmas seem to be heading collectively towards a certain eruption of chaos. He is jealous of a fellow teacher, Mike Lane (Henry Simmons - whom some may recognize from the short-lived [yet phenomenal] television series, Shark), who was able to publish the first piece of literature he submitted. The fact that Claire also seems to be increasingly drawn to Mike does not help the situation, either. Combined with a dull poetry class that is nearly empty and a son that is spiraling further and further out of his control, Lance is stressed beyond all reason. A slight beacon of hope occurs during a dinner he has with Claire and Kyle, but it is incredibly short-lived when, in the following scene, he finds Kyle dead in his bedroom as a result of choking to death while masturbating. Not wanting his son to be remembered in such a disgraceful manner, Lance makes it appear as if Kyle hung himself, forging a suicide note to solidify the plan. It works, but not quite in the way Lance expects.

Everyone at Kyle's school becomes obsessed with the dead degenerate that treated them all like trash, all as a result of the school newspaper leaking the poetic suicide note that Lance had written. All of the students and faculty begin believing that Kyle was a poor, misunderstood soul that was really sweet at heart and immeasurably intelligent; that was simply a brilliant mind struggling to find his way in a mundane environment. Lance fuels this belief, going so far as to draft an entire journal for Kyle and have it published. Beauty lies within the irony that Lance finally has his work published but it is attributed to his son instead of himself. Though the entire ordeal is not particularly humorous when narrowed down to its most basic details, the various happenings both before and after Kyle's death are utterly hilarious in their presentation and execution.

I will say no more for fear of spoiling the fun entirely, but let me summarize by saying that this is a serious film that does not take itself seriously. It is over-the-top, ridiculous at times, but never boring. It is constantly entertaining, and sure to inspire a peculiar assortment of feelings all throughout. The ending, too, is one of the most effective I have seen in quite some time - partially due to its subtlety. It seems that fewer films nowadays are capable of such effective endings to the narrative, but World's Greatest Dad has one that, while it could have potentially been better, is wholly admirable. I believe it goes without saying that I strongly recommend viewing this film. However, it should be watched with an open mind. Try not to take it too seriously and, more importantly, do not be afraid to laugh.