Tonally erratic but chock-full of interesting concepts, Bobcat Goldthwait’s World’s Greatest Dad packs a lot in its 99 minute run-time: depictions of loneliness, teen rebellion, and whether the doors of opportunity that tragedy can open—and not just the selfish sort—are worth sacrificing your ordeals. Too much plot summary in this capsule would spoil the key plot twist, but World’s Greatest Dad centers around Lance Clayton (Robin Williams in his Dead Poet’s Society / Good Will Hunting / One Hour Photo serious mode), a teacher and single father whose teenage son Kyle (Daryl Sabara, previously best known for a guest appearance on Showtime’s Weeds) is a sex-obsessed, foul-mouthed loner who has no qualms cursing out his father when he doesn’t get what he wants or snapping cell phone photos of Lance’s “TILF” (Teacher I’d Like to Fuck, in Kyle’s words) girlfriend Claire (Alexie Gilmore). The worthlessness that Lance feels as both a human and a father slowly morphs into self-discovery as World’s Greatest Dad evolves, and there are many touching moments: hell, some are downright sad, both in the rapid-fire first half and the unexpected second. And the deadpan, dark humor also sometimes hits its mark, providing some surprising laughs. However, World’s Greatest Dad is all over the place: it often goes from amusing to depressing in the matter of seconds and then abruptly switches back, preventing the viewer from getting into any sort of rhythm. And some of the little touches just don’t work: Lance & Claire’s fruit-based pet names for one another quickly grow irksome, and the relationship between Lance and Kyle’s best friend Andrew strains believability in the film’s second half. All in all, there’s a good deal to recommend here (the music is also very well utilized, though there’s not much visual spice), though the final vessel is certainly flawed and could have been much more powerful with a disciplined hand at the helm. But then, given that World’s Greatest Dad was directed by a former comedian, the end result is about as good we can reasonably expect.
62/100
An anti-war documentary with an unabashed liberal tilt, The Good Soldier uses vignettes of multiple combat veterans—spanning several battles, from as far back as Vietnam through the current Iraq & Afghanistan wars—to push a simple message: our Government takes advantage of young minds, training them to believe that any fight America sends her soldiers to must be for an unquestionably worthy cause. The reality, of course, is quite different—every war has countless layers to it—and co-directors Michael Uys & Lexy Lovell select a nice range of retired warriors to illustrate how approaches and beliefs can change over time, both through basic maturation and through the horrors of the battlefield. Particularly touching is the story of Will Williams, a two-tour Vietnam Vet who gradually evolved from blind Patriot—he enlisted for a second term because he was so angry at anti-war protesters that he wanted to go back so he could kill legally—to a soulful family man who now fights passionately for peace. Unfortunately, The Good Soldier is hamstrung by its one-note manner of pigeonholing all wars into a corner: while there are arguments, and frequently good ones, to be made against all of our recent foreign endeavors, lumping the Gulf War in with Iraq in terms of the overarching themes doesn’t feel particularly appropriate. It would have been nice to have seen the story of a (wo)man who felt compelled to fight for diplomacy, yet still believed that the war he or she fought in was worth the heavy costs. Without any counterweights, The Good Soldier is a pretty limited work predominantly designed for those on the Far Left. Still, the humane portrayals make it worthwhile, if unspectacular, viewing.