‘World’s Greatest Dad’ a career resurgence for Williams

Cert: 16

Robin Williams, many of whose recent films have been disappointing, makes a great career comeback in this unusual, observant and often disturbing drama that touches on teenage suicide and the cult of personality.

Williams plays Lance Clayton, a poetry teacher and consistently failed writer whose life never quite went the way he had hoped. What doesn’t help his bemused and lonely existence is the fact that his teen son Kyle (Sabara) is a real jerk … even dad thinks so.

But when Kyle dies dad tries to clean up his tarnished and unloved reputation by penning a heart-wrenching suicide note.

And suddenly Kyle is a cult, the girls who never gave him a passing nod when he was alive are his devotees, people want to know if Kyle wrote other memorable pieces … so what is dad to do?

The film comes in two very distinct parts and both are brilliantly constructed, the first leading seamlessly to the more enquiring second.

It’s a triumph for Williams throughout.

Star Rating: 5/5