World's Greatest Dad

After a full decade of clunkers like life affirming smarmy trash "Patch Adams" and would be hilarous romps such as "License To Wed" expectations for a comedy starring Robin Williams have been justifiably reduced to something just barely above nameless dread.
But Writer Director Bobcat Goldthwait turns out to be just the evil tonic he needed, because for once Williams is working with material gleefully free from forced life lessons.

In "World's Greatest Dad" Williams plays a divorced dad, and frustrated author stuck teaching an underappreciated poetry class and raising a sex obsessed brat of a son.
When his son dies in an embarassing accident, Williams makes it look like a suicide and pens a suicide note.
But things begin to spin out of control when the note leaks out, and williams goes to unspeakable lengths to seize on his newfound notoriety.
A dark comedy like this isn't for everyone, but Robin Williams gives a surprisingly affecting performance free from his usual manic tics.
I didn't expect much from "World's Greatest Dad," but I found it surprisingly worth my time.

"World's Greatest Dad" B

Taking Woodstock

Director Ang Lee's new film "Taking Woodstock" is frustrating mix of contradictions.
The film gets the look and the feel of the times right on. But it's troubling that the film doesn't contain one single performance that makes any kind of real impression.

This is really a film about "Woodstock" the cultural event, not "Woodstock" the concert. You only see the stage itself from a distance, and there's hardly any music. The movie is much more interested in wading through the muck with the rest of the huddled masses.

At the center of it all is Comedian Demetri Martin. He plays the son of struggling motel owners who's hoping to save their catskills hideaway from foreclosure.
When he reads that the Woodstock festival has been kicked out of a neighboring town, he offers his land and more importantly his festival permit to help.

Martin can be hilariously sublime in his standup and on "The Daily Show," but he fails to score many points here.
He's really there more as a plot device to lead the audience through the experience and he's entirely unnecessary.
Eugene Levy is a great choice to play Max Yasgur- the man who opened his farm fields up for three days of peace and music. But he has too few scenes to make any impression at all.
And the less said about Liev Schrieber's transvestite transgendered former marine the better.

The film offers a pretty good example of what it must have been like to be there as the woodstock nation invaded upstate new york.
But without an interesting story to tell, it lacks any real life and vivaciousness to speak to a new generation.

"Taking Woodstock:" C

Love Doesn't Stand Test Of "Time"

It says a lot about Rachel McAdams that she's almost able to save The Time Traveler's wife from being a gooey sappy mess.
McAdams stars as a woman who falls for a Chicago Librarian played by Eric Bana. He's the man of her dreams and her best friend. But he's also a time traveler and he's been visiting her since she was a little girl in a dewey meadow. And of course she's been in love with him since about the age of 8.

The problem is, he can never control when or where he goes. Amazingly, McAdams makes the audience feel for her character. She's such a talented actress she's able to convey the universal emotions sitting beneath the silly story line. And when you see her on screen you hope Love really does conquer all. But as we all know love is a two way street and sadly Eric Bana is not up to the task. He never really gets a handle on his bewildered time traveler. He seems a little lost in time and Bana just doesn't have much of a personality to make the audience remember or care much about his side of the story.

It's probably best if you don't try to think much about the sci-fi time traveling elements of the story. Because the film doesn't seem to adhere to any real set of rules and just seems to be making things up as it goes along.

"The Time Traveler's Wife:" C

The Cantankerous Critic Is On Vacation

The Cantankerous Critic is currently on his honeymoon in Europe. He'll be back soon with more film reviews in a couple of weeks.

Ciao