World's Greatest Dad

Director: Bobcat Goldthwait Bobcat Goldthwait

Overview

A high school poetry teacher and single father discovers that the thing he covets most in life may not be what makes him truly happy in this pitch-black comedy directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, and starring Robin Williams. Lance Clayton (Williams) is a mild-mannered high school teacher from Seattle who was granted sole custody of his son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara), following a nasty divorce. As hard as Lance tries to connect with his hostile, loathsome son, all he receives for his sincere efforts are insults and scorn. The only things Kyle seems to care about are violent video games and internet porn, the latter obsession eventually serving to alienate the foul-mouthed teen from his sole friend, Andrew (Evan Martin). His books rejected by publishers and his poetry class on the verge of being canceled due to student disinterest, Lance does find a bit of happiness in his relationship with pretty art instructor Claire (Alexie Gilmore), though these days her gaze is drifting toward handsome young English teacher Mike (Henry Simmons), who recently celebrated the publication of his very first piece in The New Yorker. Then, one day, Lance discovers his son dead, the apparent victim of autoerotic asphyxiation gone horribly awry. In order to give the boy some dignity in death, Lance pens a suicide note before summoning the authorities. By chance, that note is published in Kyle's school newspaper, instantly transforming him into a misunderstood cult icon among the impressionable student body. Now, tragedy has become opportunity for Lance. Can the grieving father live with the knowledge of how he achieved such fame, or has he sacrificed his own soul in his blind quest to garner the kind of fame that has eluded him his entire life?

Product Details

Release Date:	12/08/2009
UPC:	0876964002363
Original Release:	2009
Rating:	R
Source:	Magnolia Home Ent
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:39:00
Sales rank:	45,039

Special Features

Closed Caption; Behind the scenes; Outtakes; Deleted scenes; Hdnet: a look at world's greatest dad; I hope I become a ghost-music video by the deadly syndrome; Commentary with writer and director Bobcat Goldthwait

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robin Williams	Lance Clayton,Jason
Daryl Sabara	Kyle Clayton
Alexie Gilmore	Claire
Geoffrey Pierson	Principal Anderson
Tom Kenny	Jerry Klein
Henry Simmons	Mike Lane
Toby Huss	Bert Green
Morgan Murphy	Morgan
Naomi Glick	Ginger
Dan Spencer	Dan Spencer,Nosy Neighbor
Zach Sanchez	Peter
Evan Martin	Andrew
Ellie Jameson	Jennifer
Michael Thomas Moore	Chris
Alles Mist	Metal Kid
Lorraine Nicholson	Heather
Mitzi McCall	Bonnie
Cheri Minns	Nosy Neighbor
Zazu	Nosy Neighbor
Tony V.	Dr. Pentola
Krist Novoselic	Newsstand Vendor
Mabel Mae	Mabel
Zoe	The Fighting Pug
Jill Talley	Make-Up Woman
Deborah Horne	Dr. Dana
Bruce Hornsby	Bruce Hornsby,Performer
Riley Dean Stone	Bruce Hornsby's Mic Stand
Gerald Brunskill	Composer

Technical Credits

Bobcat Goldthwait

Bobcat Goldthwait	Director,Screenwriter
Howard Gertler	Producer
Richard Kelly	Producer
Sean McKittrick	Producer
Tim Perell	Producer
Jennifer Roth	Executive Producer
Tim Henderson	Stunts
Mitch Mitchell	Stunts
Robert McGee	Casting
Ruth Lambert	Casting
Edward H. Hamm Jr.	Producer,Executive Producer
Lisa Fowle	Sound/Sound Designer
Ted Hamm	Producer

Editorial Reviews

During a directing career of just a few features, Bobcat Goldthwait has shown a keen ability to normalize even the edgiest material, using a surprising sensitivity to make the taboo tolerable. He did it in Sleeping Dogs Lie with bestiality, and he does it in World's Greatest Dad with -- well, with a shocking second-act turn of events that's best kept secret, even though many synopses didn't show such restraint. This occurrence changes the film's tone completely, before a third tone emerges that a viewer can scarcely imagine would be possible, given the nature of what happens. Without getting too tangled up in talking about a thing without talking about it, suffice it to say that Goldthwait produces a black comedy that's both very funny, even though the subject matter is no joke, and very touching, all while steering clear of the maudlin misery that might arise from an ordinary treatment of this topic. He has Robin Williams to thank. Stuck in a deep rut of uninspired Hollywood tripe, Williams found his way clear to appearing in this brash and daring independent feature, which rewards both his director, and his own image among people who've grown sick of him. An unassuming schlub who lets life cuff him around, Williams' Lance Clayton takes control in a way that is totally crass, yet somehow laudable. Williams' subtlety as a performer does him a service here, in equal measure to the disservice his lack of subtlety has done him elsewhere. Not only does the viewer refuse to indict Clayton for his otherwise deplorable actions, but the character is effortlessly sympathetic, caught up in a snowballing disaster that stems from a series of small steps across moral lines. That's something with which most viewers can sympathize, making the film's title something more than merely ironic.