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Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, Alexie Gilmore

A thoughtful but outrageous comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait, WORLD'S GREATEST DAD is a story about a man that learns the things you want most may not be the things that make you happy, and that being lo...( read more  read more... )nely is not necessarily the same as being alone.

Robin Williams stars as Lance Clayton, a man who has learned to settle. He dreamed of being a rich and famous writer, but has only managed to make it as a high school poetry teacher. His only son Kyle (Daryl Sabara) is an insufferable jackass who won't give his father the time of day. He is dating Claire (Alexie Gilmore), the school's adorable art teacher, but she doesn't want to get serious -- or even acknowledge publicly that they are dating.

Then, in the wake of a freak accident, Lance suffers the worst tragedy and greatest opportunity of his life. He is suddenly faced with the possibility of all the fame, fortune and popularity he ever dreamed of, if he can only live with the knowledge of how he got there.

Written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, WORLD'S GREATEST DAD stars Robin Williams, Alexie Gilmore, Daryl Sabara, Geoff Pierson, Henry Simmons and Mitzi McCall. The film was produced by Tim Perrell, Howard Gertler, Sean McKittrick and Richard Kelly and co-produced by Sarah de Sa Rego.

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70% liked it

24,343 ratings

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84% liked it

78 critics

R, 1 hr. 38 min.

Directed by: Bobcat Goldthwait

Release Date: August 21, 2009

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DVD Release Date: December 8, 2009

Stats: 516 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (516)

  • her69eyes
    October 28, 2009
    her69eyes
    "World's Greatest Dad", a new film by former stand up comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, has a premise with all the potential in the world. It's edgy, satirical, and we've never seen anything quite like it. Unfortunately, however, the brilliance seems to have ended in the early developm...( read more)ental stages. The script meanders around with lifeless one-note characters, the dialogue is a completely tone-deaf farce, the soundtrack is an obviously literate self-parody, and in an attempt to make both a drama and a comedy, Goldthwait fails at both. A noble failure, indeed, but a failure nonetheless.

    Kyle Clayton (Daryl Sabara) is the son from hell. He's a chauvinist with interests that end at masturbation. His father, Lance (Robin Williams), tries his best to connect with his son, but his efforts are thwarted when Kyle announces that the only thing queerer than music are the people who like it.

    Lance, a failed writer, makes a living as a poetry teacher at Kyle's high school. His on-again-off-again girlfriend, Clarie (Alexie Gilmore), is a tease much more interested in one of Lance's younger and more successful co-workers. One day, he walks into Kyle's room and finds that his son has died from autoerotic asphyxiation. Once Lance pulls himself together, he covers up Kyle's death by writing a suicide note and hanging him from the closet.

    Kyle's classmates, who used to find him repulsive, now plaster the hallway walls with posters professing their love for their fallen classmate. When "Kyle's" suicide note is published in the school newspaper, both student and faculty find deep meaning in Kyle's death. Lance, who has never been able to get one of his novels published, now has a way of getting read - by writing his son's diary.

    This idea, of the romanticization of the dead, is tackled well in a few brief instances, but most of the time it's ham-fisted and dull. Take, for instance, a scene where students read "Kyle's" words and fantasize about him - for example, the goth girl envisions a self-mutilating Kyle with eyeliner. Could we be beaten over the head any more?

    Robin Williams' performance worked for me in the developing stages of the film, but as the film progressed I started to think that I mistook his understated performance for pure boredom. Daryl Sabara, from the "Spy Kids" movies, succeeds in being thoroughly despicable, but the dialogue he's been given is the sort of construct that only exists in movies like this one.

    The film teeters between drama and comedy so often that I found myself laughing at the drama and cringing at the comedy. When Lance finds Kyle's body, sappy music is cued and we watch Lance cry in slow motion for a minute or so. Williams gives it all he has, but the shamelessly manipulative filmmaking hit my gag reflex more than my tear ducts.

    Bobcat Goldthwait is not an awful storyteller, but I do think he underestimates the intelligence of the audience. Everything in the film is so obvious, so one-note, so literal - by the end of this "thinking piece", you realize that you didn't have to do any of the thinking for yourself.
  • IfeellikeGregorSamsa
    October 5, 2009
    IfeellikeGregorSamsa
    Note: A picture so disgusting it deserves to be buried under the ground for no one to see. I could stay up for three days for four nights and never come up with such a story, plot and characters. Only a deranged mind could thought up and decided to translate to the screen such a ...( read more)garbage with intention to make us laugh and be emotionally involved with it at the same time.

    It was suppose to be absurd? Oh, I'm sure it was. But where there're too many pricks and deluded morons, it doesn't leave one much room except to deride them.

    ...And even that doesn't last very long.
  • mrpopcorn
    September 2, 2009
    mrpopcorn
    "Lance Clayton is about to get everything he deserves."

    A 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.

    ...( read more)ook">REVIEW
    This movie worked very well as a dark comedy. It followed no set boundaries and goes its own way. The results are incredibly dark, sometimes being almost twisted. There are some scenes where the viewer doesn't know whether to laugh or feel sad. Robin Williams delivers his best performance in a while as Lance Clayton, a struggling writer striving for success and hell-bent on not dying alone. I personally found it rather impressive that it was both written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait because I'm personally not too big of a fan of his stand-up and this was a far departure from it. However, the one thing that I saw as holding the movie back was its climax, which I believed took the right route, but could have been more powerful or had a bit more of a sting to it.

    I think Robin Williams portrayed his character extremely well. His mix of emotion, sarcasm and humbleness flowed together excellently whilst moving consecutively, and concurrently at times. Robin Williams has shown time and time again that he is not just a rifting comedian but instead a true artist and lover of his craft, this film is no exception. Daryl Sabara has branched out into a medium of film I truly think he belongs. Who would have thought the little boy from Spy Kids could be so inviting as such a rightfully harsh and depraved character. I think this proves Bobcat Goldthwait as much more than people's general perception of him.

    Overall, this movie, like Observe and Report released earlier in 2009, won't be for everyone, but it works very well in its own way.
  • DrZeek
    September 1, 2009
    DrZeek
    Lance Clayton: We can go to the video store later and rent a movie.
    Kyle: Are you stupid? I hate watching movies.

    Writer/Director Bobcat Goldthwait has made a dark comedy that stars Robin Williams in what actually seems to be his best performance in years. The rest of the revie...( read more)w will delve into a twist in the story that occurs about a third of the way into the movie, so if you don't want to hear minor spoilers, know that this is a good movie.

    Lance Clayton: Does anyone else have their haiku?

    Williams stars as Lance Clayton, a teacher who wishes he could be a published writer. He works at a school, has an unpopular class, a secret relationship with another teacher, and a teenage son, who is pretty much the biggest asshole you can know.

    After getting the dynamic across between Lance and his son, Kyle, a funny thing happens. Kyle accidentally kills himself while masturbating. Choosing to hide the embarrassment of the situation, Lance sets up the scene to make it look like Kyle killed himself, and goes as far as forging a suicide note. While this works, another funny thing happens. The suicide note is leaked into the school and everyone seems to forget how much of a dick Kyle was, and instead embraces the situation. Lance is now faced with the possibility of the fame that he has wanted due to some more factors that follow, as long as he plays along with the charade.

    I guess you can say this film is kind of weird. It stars out as a comedy filled with awkward humor and one-liners, but then turns into a dark comedy with some satirical elements involving the school's reaction the Kyle's death. At the center of all this is Williams. Williams has the kind of performance here that I really enjoy. He's being very funny, without seemingly trying. He's dialed down and playing the role straight, but with a sort of charm that transforms over the course of the film.

    The subject matter is dark, but Goldthwait manages to handle the tone pretty well to never make the film reach a low sad point in emotion. He has toyed with irony in a way that works and given Williams the chance to be in a good comedy again.

    Neighbor: That's your son, I thought he was a zombie.
    Lance Clayton: I wish, I like zombies.
  • kiriyamakazou
    August 29, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Gobsmackingly brilliant. World's Greatest Dad was one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises of my film watching life. I'm amazed that Bobcat Goldthwait has managed to write and direct one of the best films of the last 10 years. World's Greatest Dad is a dark comedy, very dar...( read more)k, very funny and very, very moving. The film literally had me in hysterics, just before I wept like a little bitch. At times my face made expressions and shapes that it had never made before, as it awkwardly contorted itself to something that represents that place between laughter and crying. Williams is a revelation, see him act in scenes too difficult describe and too complex to understand what his character must be feeling at that time. He always remains believable, as do all the characters. The film has such heart that it manages to depict people acting like pricks and doing terrible things, without creating misguided hate towards them. On top of all this we also have a bucketload of themes covered. From unconditional love, to the hypocrisy of fame, to the morbid side of recognition after death. It's a brave film, and easily an unlikable one if you misinterpret some of the intentions. For me, this is a film that is brave enough to say how things truly are, by dealing with incredibly depressing subject matter, but also manages to be one of the most uplifting films ever made. Alone and lonely are different, it's better to be hatefully remembered than loved by a bunch of phonies. This film has endless rewatchability and I would genuinely like to thank Bobcat Goldthwait for making something this perfect..
  • ChimiChanga21
    November 15, 2009
    ChimiChanga21
    Wow... Weird, on the good side.
    The story line flowed naturally. If the end had been different, it wouldn't have the same impact. And that impact was perfect.
    The soundtrack is brilliant.
  • kubrickian
    November 8, 2009
    kubrickian
    A movie about elevating the dead (despite how they were when living) that is as dark as it is funny. I laughed out loud at this more than anything else this year.
  • richardprempeh20
    November 6, 2009
    richardprempeh20
    please i will like more of the peoples to watch this
  • resonatingbiodroid
    October 25, 2009
    resonatingbiodroid
    This one really went over my head. I'm not sure if I liked it or hated it.
  • deadmansshoes
    October 17, 2009
    deadmansshoes
    Pitch black comic genius. The Heathers of a new generation. Full review coming later.

View All World's Greatest Dad Reviews

Critic Reviews

September 4, 2009
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

There's more going on here than the age-old struggle between maturity and its surly teen antithesis. full review

September 3, 2009
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

For a comedy about autoerotic asphyxiation, epic deception, and shameless exploitation, World's Greatest Dad is a surprisingly sweet and tender affair. full review

September 3, 2009
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Bobcat Goldthwait makes a daring assault in World's Greatest Dad against our yearning to mythologize the dead. But he loses his nerve just before the earth is completely scorched. full review

August 28, 2009
Claudia Puig, USA Today

Though hampered by an uneven tone and a disturbing conclusion, World's Greatest Dad is a bold, black comedy balanced by an unexpected sense of humanity. full review

August 21, 2009
Kurt Loder, MTV

A strange and wonderful new indie from director Bobcat Goldthwait. full review

August 17, 2009
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

To a greater extent than Sleeping Dogs Lie, it clumsily straddles the line between comedy and drama, its story neither outrageous enough to be funny nor substantial enough to be moving. full review

View more World's Greatest Dad reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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