Two movies that I watched recently, God Bless America and Worlds
Greatest Dad, surprised the hell out of me, and in a good way. I was pretty
reluctant to watch these movies because Bobcat Goldthwait wrote and directed
both of them which pretty much translated in my head that all the main
characters would be jittery and having asthma attacks all throughout their
lines. Bobcat hasn’t been relevant for….well forever. I don’t know why but I
consider him to be a looked down upon distant cousin of Michael Winslow’s….until
now.
I watched World’s Greatest Dad first and enjoyed
it from the beginning. Robin Williams plays a teacher, Lance, who is an overly agreeable
man and is always getting walked over because of it. His son Kyle is a complete
piece of shit because he knows how much of a push over his dad is so he takes
advantage anyway possible. Usually in a Robin Williams movie Williams antics
dampen all other characters. Fortunately Kyle’s character, played by Daryl
Sabara, puts many of Robin’s other memorable characters to shame. Too many good
one liners that would either get me smacked in the face, beaten up by a
boyfriend or laid like a porn star. Kyle is definitely a kid that would have
been beaten or drowned as a child if he was the son of any other person besides
Lance’s. Williams and Sabara do a good job by complimenting each other with
these polar opposite characters so we know that they really would be father and
son.
Unfortunately
Kyle is only in the movie for about 25 to 30 minutes and I think the movie
suffers because of it but it is a key plot point and really the only thing that
does suffer throughout this movie. Once Kyle is gone the movie turns into
self-realizing journey for everyone else involved in the movie. Bobcat does a
good job depicting how fake everyone can become when tragedy strikes and how
far they will go to convince themselves and everyone around them how genuine
they are; the more they struggle the harder it becomes.
In God Bless America the protagonist is
very similar to Lance, as they are both quietly desperate men seeking something
more than what they have been given. Joel Murray plays Frank, an extremely
cynical man struggling desperately to contain his seething hate and disgust for
his fellow man. After a few life altering events occur, Frank can take it no
more and decides to kill himself but not before he lathers a couple of social
parasites up in a blood bath. Along with Williams, Murray makes me laugh at his plight with cynical
sarcasm and at times empathize for his unlucky outcome. He again is a sad
pathetic character until his supporting cast member diverts Frank down a new
road.
Roxy is a
high school girl who witnesses one of Frank’s murders and convinces him to not
kill himself but to kill more despicable individuals instead. Just like Kyle,
Roxy becomes the focal of how the story continues. Frank was once lost but now
he has found Roxy….who helps him decide who to kill next. They bond through
shooting guns at stuffed teddy bears and at rude teenagers who won’t shut up
during a movie (something of which should be done anyways). The two become
Mickey and Mallory Knox but with a Harold and Maude kind of a twist.
Just like in Worlds greatest Dad I think the supporting character steals the
show because without these types of characters the protagonist would be a sad
pathetic individual. They are the catalysts that drive the main character. I
would like to see a stronger character in a future Bobcat movie though. Bobcat
does a good job at dragging the empathy out of the audience for these sad
passive people but they are only half satisfying without the supporting
character piecing them together. And yes, I did say I want to see a future
Bobcat movie. Bobcat definitely has some talent and I can’t wait to see how his
sick cynical mind will make me laugh at how fucked up someone else’s life can
be compared to mine.
