can we talk about Robin Williams?

[naughty boy]

Anything. Anything you want.

I just watched this and fell in love with the great man a bit more.



But, you know, altho' I loved him in Mork and Mindy, I haven't really seen him in that many films. Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King (which I adored), Good Morning Vietnam....that might be it. There was a lot of rubbish, wasn't there?

What's his best performance? What do you think of his standup? His TV work?

[Samoan]

For me it's The Fisher King and One Hour Photo that are the best and that stretch his range.

[Jimbly]

I liked The World According To Garp but I had read the book. So could fill in some gaps

[Quaco]

I got more into his standup -- which was really just a non-stop blitzkrieg. There seemed to be no jokes, no bits -- the opposite of George Carlin who was all about his scripted bits -- it was all one huge organic rolling mass. He was the most comically gifted person I had ever seen.

Liked some of the movies -- Good Morning Vietnam is the only one I still think about -- but to me, it was never really him. He was all about his comic timing and associative mind.

[Phil T]

Good Morning Vietnam is excellent, Awakenings isn't bad if you're in the right mood for it, but you're broadly right, he did do a fair amount of rubbish. Good Will Hunting? I don't think so.

One I do rather like - though I suspect I may be a lone voice here* - was One Hour Photo. A film that had Williams acting very much against type and imo, all the better for it. His creepiness in that was all the more effective when you consider his wackier roles in his other films.


EDIT: * Obviously not...

For me it's The Fisher King and One Hour Photo that are the best and that stretch his range.

[Phil T]

WIlliams seems to have generated a high level of dislike in some quarters, over the years, which I don't understand and find baffling, to be honest.
I don't know about his stand up - I'm much less familiar with that - but I think time will eventually judge his movie output in a better light.

[Goat Boy]

I loved Mork and Mindy growing up but truthfully I never found him particularly funny as a stand up and I found him quite annoying when he was “on”. There was no doubt though that he had a very sharp comedic mind.

He made a lot of rubbish films too I think. I’m not sure if any could be classed as “great” although I’ve not seen the Fisher King which is the one a lot of people seem to pick out as his best. I got the impression he was a sentimental man through some of his film choices. In interviews when he settled down a bit he came across as a thoughtful, kindly and gentle soul.

[naughty boy]

Did you watch the interview I posted, D? He was clearly a complex character but I found him really endearing there - a great mind, a big heart. What happened to him was a tragedy.

[Goat Boy]

I never had time this morning.

It was tragic. Wiki says he had onset dementia which had been misdiagnosed as parkinsons. I guess either way he couldn't face up to living with such an illness and the inevitable slow decline so he took his life. Poor man.

[naughty boy]

[harvey k-tel]

I liked The World According To Garp...

I just watched this recently, and realised that although I thought I had already seen it, it turned out that I hadn't. I must've read the book at some point, though. It seemed ubiquitous for a while in the 80's.

Anyway, I quite enjoyed the film, but I doubt I'd call it one of his best. He seemed much more 'natural' in it though, compared to some of his later roles where his personality (for lack of a better term) seems to always be bubbling at the surface.

[Geezee]

WIlliams seems to have generated a high level of dislike in some quarters, over the years, which I don't understand and find baffling, to be honest.
I don't know about his stand up - I'm much less familiar with that - but I think time will eventually judge his movie output in a better light.

I'll admit to having a strong dislike for him over the years - the movie where he plays a doctor who can cure cancer by making patients laugh is offensive from beginning to end. In many ways he represented the worst of Hollywood sentimentality for many years, only competing with Tom Hanks really. I was often conflicted by his interviews - on the one hand I found him overbearing and tiring, but by the same token I admired his huge energy and enthusiasm. I don't think his movie output will be seen in a better light - quite the opposite, a movie like Good Morning Vietnam, that I think was hugely admired at the time, has aged really badly.

[Dr Markus]

I'll admit to having a strong dislike for him over the years - the movie where he plays a doctor who can cure cancer by making patients laugh is offensive from beginning to end.

I'd watch that film again if I were you, I just read the wiki on that film and it doesn't say he can cure cancer.

[Matt Wilson]

He was great for much of the '80s and '90s but seemed to have peaked after Good Will Hunting and the Oscar (which I think should have gone to Burt Reynolds that year). The only 21st Century film of his that I bothered to see was Insomnia in which he was predictably good. Even things like Mrs Doubtfire are entertaining.

[Nuts]

My favourite is also The World According to Garp.
I have a distinct memory of watching this many years ago. It was a Saturday night and had planned to go out with friends who blew me out, after a few fruitless phone calls it seemed I'd be spending Saturday night alone so I decided to go out and rent a video (showing my age) and get a few beers. I sat down to watch Garp and cracked open the first of the four beers and made my way through the rest as the film progressed. Really enjoyed it but found myself in floods of tears at the end, it was sad but I was sat on my own and found it strange that it affected me so emotionally. It was only when I went to dispose of the empty cans the next morning that I found that they were all out of date - I put my melancholy disposition down to the dodgy beers and have always checked the dates on a can ever since.
Still love the film though and keep meaning to watch it again but have avoided it since his death as I think it will be even more depressing! Maybe I'll try it sober this time.

[Quaco]

In many ways he represented the worst of Hollywood sentimentality for many years, only competing with Tom Hanks really.

There's something about a happy/manic person "playing sad". Watching Robin Williams tear up for the camera tends to come across as phony and over-earnest.

[Phil T]

You got me on ignore?

Ah, no, sorry. I posted, then went back and read some of the previous postings, but not all of them, as I was in a bit of a rush at the time.

Modify that to "in a minority" then.

[Hen Abye Tokensthwaite]

For me it's The Fisher King and One Hour Photo that are the best and that stretch his range.

Good shout. One Hour Photo was really good. Not many Hitchcock homages work as well as that one. Well I assume it was a Hitchcock thing. The moment when she swerves in the car and he's following is a master stroke. Fisher King is ace, too. I love his 'mystical shit' speech.

[Geezee]

I'll admit to having a strong dislike for him over the years - the movie where he plays a doctor who can cure cancer by making patients laugh is offensive from beginning to end.

I'd watch that film again if I were you, I just read the wiki on that film and it doesn't say he can cure cancer.

I was exaggerating for effect, but it's the most sentimental piece of crap I've ever seen. I'm offended that you would ask me to watch it again, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

Something which is comparable (and which I think I saw roughly the same time) was Green Mile. Urgh.