R.I.P. Robin Williams

July 21, 1951 - August 11, 2014

mer·cu·ri·al

mərˌkyo͝orēəl/

adjective

1. 1.

   (of a person) subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.

Sadly, another star has exited stage left. This time, Robin Williams has died of an apparent suicide. For me, this one is a little extra sad because he truly is a person I grew up watching. I first became aware of him when I was about eight, thanks to a couple of guest spots on one of my favorite TV shows at the time, Happy Days. This turned out to be his big break as he played a quirky extra terrestrial known as Mork from Ork. Watching reruns lately, I realize how insane it was to include an alien on one of the most square shows of all time. It was so out of left field, something I couldn't really appreciate at the time, yet it worked. It worked so well, the character was given his own series, Mork & Mindy which I watched religiously. "Na-nu na-nu" and "Shaz-but" become part of my everyday vernacular.

As the years went by, I learned of his wacky stand-up act, and heard stories of his habits. Eventually, he began doing lots of movies. By this time I hadn't totally lost interest, but I paid less attention to him than I once did. Still, I did see a number of the films in which he appeared. Somehow, I haven't fully witnessed many of his most popular performances in their entirety. Good Morning, Vietnam, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Hook are movies I've only seen in pieces. Occasionally, I'll catch a bit of the beginning, but can't finish it for some reason. More often, I'll catch a bit of the end, or somewhere in the middle and stop watching a few minutes later rather than try to catch up. The Best of Times, The Fisher King, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen are movies I've not seen at all.

In what I have seen Williams in, I've almost always enjoyed his performance, even if I hated the movie. I love Dead Poets Society. He was great in The World According to Garp, Jumanji, Good Will Hunting, and Aladdin. He was even good in the Night at the Museum movies. That said, I was strangely drawn to the roles where his character was miserable. I thought he was excellent in World's Greatest Dad and downright brilliant in both The Final Cut and One Hour Photo. I guess having an inkling of some of his troubles in life gave these portrayals a truth his more jovial work didn't have. In those roles that required him to be funny, it feels like him giving us the Robin Williams persona. His more conflicted characters felt closer to reality. The clown was exposing the tears behind the smile.

It's been said that inside every comedian is a sad man refusing to weep. Williams has extraordinary success in channeling this other person. How strange that the same actor can play some of the most uninhibited of all characters, and some of the most morose. - Roger Ebert

If you're at all familiar with him you know that he was a ball of kinetic energy, seemingly with a serious case of ADHD. To watch him in action was not to witness anything coherent. It was a study in unfiltered, stream of conscience. Listening to him was quite literally hearing someone verbally brainstorm, using our ears as the paper he's scribbling numerous random thoughts on. Even in death, he proves that if each person were only allowed one word to describe them, mercurial would most certainly be his.

Happy Feet Two

Directed by George Miller.

2011. Rated PG, 100 minutes.

Cast:

Elijah Wood

Robin Williams

Pink

Benjamin Flores Jr.

Hugo Weaving

Brad Pitt

Matt Damon

Common

Sofia Vergara

Hank Azaria

John Goodman

Carlos Alazraqui

Ava Acres

Lombardo Boyar

Mumble (Wood), along with seemingly every penguin in the world finds themselves trapped when a giant hunk of ice blocks their path out of a frozen valley. Meanwhile, Will and Bill, a pair of krill played by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, respectively, break loose from their school and venture out into the ocean on their own. Pop song medleys and dancing ensues.

As with its predecessor, the singing and dancing is the strength of the movie. The way songs most of would never think of in the same sentence blend seamlessly is brilliant. The numbers are lively and make time speed  by as we tap our own happy feet and maybe even sing along. That is, of course, as long as the thought of musicals aimed at children doesn’t automatically turn your stomach.

Where the first movie falters is in its sudden twist in tone. After two cheerful acts encouraging kids to be true to themselves, the third is an excruciatingly dark one involving man’s exploitation of animals for financial gain and destruction of the environment on top of our hero suffering spells of dementia. Even though we never get anywhere near those depths this time around, we’re only given one fun act before settling in for lots of penguins fretting about their pending doom and worshipping false idols. Sure, there are plenty of attempts at humor but most of them fall flat. To gauge this, I made sure to notice my children who weren’t laughing very often. The truth is the penguins and most of the other creatures fail to engage us unless they’re belting out a tune.

One exception, at least on a minor level, is Mumble’s son Erik (Ares). Like his dad, he’s a bit different than the other penguins. He doesn’t join in on any of the songs they sing. In fact, he doesn’t say much at all and spends as much time as possible hiding. As in almost every other movie ever made that features such an insecure character, this is all leading up to the moment he bursts out of his shell. The pleasant surprise is how effective a moment this is. It’s an absolute showstopper, by far my favorite part of the entire movie.

The rest of the film proceeds as it must, efficiently but not always joyfully. Everything happens right on time as we’ve been trained by countless other kiddie flicks. The climax is ridiculous, even for a cartoon about singing penguins. All of this would be forgivable if it didn’t commit a cardinal sin. There are large chunks of Happy Feet Two that are just plain boring.

MY SCORE: 5/10

World's Greatest Dad

Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait.

2009. Rated R, 99 minutes.
Cast:
Robin Williams
Alexie Gilmore
Daryl Sabara
Henry Simmons
Geoff Pierson
Evan Martin
Lorraine Nicholson
Zach Sanchez

Plot: Aspiring but unsuccessful writer and high school poetry teacher Lance Clayton (Williams) lives alone with his unapologetic jerk of a teenaged son Kyle (Sabara) and carries on a relationship with fellow teacher Claire (Gilmore) even though she doesn't want to be seen in public with him.

The Good: Robin Williams is usually only seen in two modes. He's either zany, verging on being totally out of control but fighting for some grand cause or morose and perhaps more than a little perverted. Here, he's much more a regular guy who seems to have life living him, instead of the other way around. He pulls it off, perfectly. Like so many of us in real life, his emotions are conveyed not by his words but by his facial expressions and body language. It's a wonderful performance. To aid this, we get a story that's excellently written. It's subtle, even when it seems to be over the top. It also puts us in position to seriously ponder what we might've done in the same situation. This brings us to the writer and director, Bobcat Goldthwait, who also shows up in a tiny role. Those of us who can actually remember the 1980s might be mildly surprised he hasn't already died of an overdose. Given that you might be completely blown away that he's still capable of coherent thought, much less writing a cerebral character examination. Kudos to him. Oh, I haven't even mentioned the fact that it's funny.

The Bad: Where is Kyle's mother? Unless I missed it, she's never mentioned. Doing so would've added another layer to both Kyle and the movie as a whole. We would be better able to psychoanalyze him, as we're already doing without quite enough information. I would have also love for us to meet Andrew's (Martin) mom, the alcoholic. She could've added tons, as well.

The Ugly: How and why the tragedy occurred.

Recommendation: We have another excellent effort in dark comedy, making 2009 a very strong year for the genre. As with most of them, there's just not enough hijinks and shenanigans to hold some people's attention. If you don't go in expecting another gross-out bromance or get too pissed off in the first few minutes that Lance hasn't beat the crap out of his son, you'll be in for a fun ride. Those of you into character studies, this one's for you.

MY SCORE: 8/10

Shrink

Directed by Jonas Pate.
2009. Rated R, 97 minutes.
Cast:
Kevin Spacey
Mark Webber
Keke Palmer
Saffron Burrows
Jack Huston
Pell James
Dallas Roberts
Laura Ramsey
Robin Williams
Robert Loggia
Gore Vidal
Jesse Plemons
Maggie Grace

Plot: Dr. Henry Carter (Spacey) is a psychiatrist to the stars in Hollywood. Not only do they have serious problems, but he does, as well. Chief among them is his out of control weed and alcohol habits. He seems to have met his match when he takes on the pro-bono case of troubled high school girl Jemma (Palmer).

The Good: I’m a Kevin Spacey apologist. Therefore, I’ve liked him in just about everything I’ve seen him in. Still, I think this is his best work in a few years. He’s brilliant as a man decaying in front of our eyes. We believe everything about him. The rest of the cast is excellent, also. Most notably, Keke Palmer (Akeelah and the Bee and Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP) is outstanding as Jemma, the troubled teen. The same goes for Robin Williams in limited time as a movie star trying to find excuses to cheat on his wife.

The Bad: In the tradition of “gritty” indy dramas and black comedies, it’s filled with unhappy and unlikeable people doing things that are unlikeable and keep them unhappy. There’s also the traffic jam of about a gazillion different storylines that tie together all too conveniently at the end. Then of course, this culminates in one of those conclusions where everything is instantly all better but we can’t buy it for one second. Any one of the subplots could make an intriguing movie on their own. All mashed together, like they are here, none of them feels developed enough. The most fully realized of these, the main one between Dr. Carter and his young patient, could’ve been a great variation of Half Nelson. It’s even headed in that direction. However, instead of continuing down that path and putting it’s own spin on it, it pulls up short so it can tie into all the rest of the movie in one supposedly magical moment.

The Ugly: “Break glass in case of emergency” weed.

Recommendation: The performances are top notch. There is also a thread of dark humor that runs through it. However, it crumbles under the weight of its own self-pity, rendering the phoenix rising finale laughable. In short, it’s a well acted trainwreck.

The Opposite View: Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze

What the Internet Says: 6.7/10 on imdb.com (6/11/10), 30% on rottentomatoes.com, 40/100 on metacritic.com


MY SCORE: 4.5/10