World's Greatest Dad
I false started World's Greatest Dad three times before actually getting to the twist, and for some reason I stopped one more time before I finally followed it through to the great shoe-drop at the end. This movie works off of a tension verging on meanness. We hate Kyle, the teenage douchebag who seems to exist only to masturbate and push peoples' buttons. We find his father somewhat pathetic, and then lose all sympathy for him as he slips gently into capitalizing on his personal tragedy. We hate the flimsy relationships that he puts up with and passively cultivates, and his milquetoast attitude toward just about everything he does. Bobcat makes us wait until the last second to see Robin Williams explode into sincerity and stop worrying about his desire to reach an audience that misunderstands completely.
When the film finally ended, I had to think about what the resolution meant. Robin Williams had his talent confirmed and in doing so finally felt comfortable destroying his image; Kyle's best friend had his version of Kyle restored. They were now footloose and fancy free to pursue whatever kind of mediocre intoxication and movie watching suited them. Woo Hoo! Whatever happened to the gay jock, or all the other people who'd built a new Kyle to celebrate as a warning against isolation and creative repression? Only Bobcat knows.
See World's Greatest Dad if you're in the mood to think uncomfortable thoughts, experience a non-threatening variety of suspense, laugh nervously and feel genuinely confused. See World's Greatest Dad if you're killing time while Bad Lieutenant downloads. Also, see it if you're the least bit curious about what Peter Pan's aging body, not to mention penis, look like floating in a pool.
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