Where to begin with Bobcat Goldwaith's World's Greatest Dad (2009)? I like to see all the potentially interesting films of the past year so when it comes time to make my best of.... lists I have enough to pull from. I was warned that World's Greatest Dad was a very dark comedy, which of course I like more, but I was still almost not prepared for how sickly dark this movie could get.
WGD stars the great Robin Williams who may be one of the best actors at straddling that line between over the top comedy and pure drama. Here, Williams is in all his reserved glory as a father to a son who quit frankly is very unlikable. It is an interesting concept for a film, what if your child just sucks and is a clear cut future pedophile or rapist. Well Williams does his best to care about his son, and he genuinely does, his son is really all he has in his life, but you can read his disappointment.
Then the movie takes a dark turn and Williams character has to deal with a new life and that is when he decides to take his destiny into his own hands. This film touches on interesting topics such as loneliness, what is art, expectations, and memory. I don't want to touch on these topics anymore because I feel like going into WGD blind is much more rewarding.
Where the movie falls short is in the direction. You can tell certain scenes, especially the ending, where the film works against itself and what it is trying to say by drawing to much attention to the direction. A more experienced director would have done more with the material, but it is a good start for Goldwaith and I will keep an eye out for his future projects.
World's Greatest Dad is far from a light hearted comedy but it also never realizes its dark potential. It had some really funny moments but whenever it got to the point where it could have been more funny and innovative it pulled back. I recommend the film but there are a lot better movies that came out in 2009.
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