A-List: Five Best Robin Williams Roles
By J. Don Birnam
August 25, 2014
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The rules this time around are simple: If the movie is on his official IMDb filmography, then it counts. This includes voice-overs, given that, as noted, they played a critical part of his trajectory. Also, I should note I’m not listing these based on the quality of the movie, but on the quality of Williams’ performance.
I noticed something when I was looking through the list: I haven’t really seen many of his movies in the last ten years. Many have been for cartoons or for the Night at the Museum series. So, sadly, you won’t find any post-2002 movie on this last. I also confess I have never seen Moscow on the Hudson, largely considered his breakthrough role. You’ll have to excuse that movie’s absence from the list.
Two honorable mentions: The first goes to Good Morning Vietnam, a war-comedy that sees Williams as a DJ on the armed forces radio service who is popular with the troops because of his racy manner in the air. Williams, as usual, nails the role with his comedic timing and furtive expressions. There’s nothing that I particularly dislike about his performance here, but I simply like other ones more. The second goes to Hook, one of my favorite movies growing up. I love Hook’s reinvention of the Peter Pan tale and I can’t think of a better actor to have played the perpetual child character. The twist, of course, was that he forgot about who he was, and did grow up. Alas, I haven’t seen the movie in decades, so I had to leave it off the main list for that reason. Bonus credit honorable mention: Jumanji. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine. Yeah, I know the movie is terrible.
One last thing I noticed is that I do not dislike any of Robin Williams’ roles except for one: Good Will Hunting. I know I’m in the decided minority but I deeply dislike that movie. Maybe it was because of all of the hullabaloo around the obnoxious Damon/Affleck stuff. Maybe I really dislike Harvard stuff (no, not maybe). Thus, ironically, the role for which he won an Oscar is one you will not see on the list.
Without further ado…
5. One Hour Photo
In this 2002 movie, perhaps Williams’ last great role, he plays a photo developer in a shopping mart (dated, anyone?) who develops an obsession with one of the families whose photos he’s been developing for years. This role sticks in my mind because it is so far out of Williams’ bailiwick, but he delivers a stunning performance as a lonely, obsessive and downright creepy man (who, it turns out, was himself a victim of something more horrible). Indeed, surrounded by a mostly unknown cast, he steals the show entirely and delivers a knockout performance in this well-reviewed but little seen indie. For anyone looking to explore Williams’ filmography but not into the lighthearted fare, this is the perfect place to start.
4. Dead Poets Society
The second place to start is probably Williams’ other iconic serious role (other than Good Will Hunting, of course), as the beloved poetry professor in 1989’s Dead Poets Society. Much like in Good Morning Vietnam, Williams plays a character who bucks traditional norms and encourages self-discovery, independent thinking, and even rebellion. When one of the students in his class commits suicide due to the pressures of his father to conform to a preordained life, Williams’ character takes the fall. In a touching denouement, however, he is redeemed by the appreciation and subtle loyalty of his students.
What makes this a great Williams performance is that he plays the beloved teacher in a muted yet emphatic way. He delivers the right amount of emotion in the right time, avoiding the tendency of some comedic actors to over-dramatize key scenes when they venture into serious fare. Indeed, I found that Williams seldom over-acted when he ventured into drama, unlike, say, Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman - a movie that explores similar themes of youth, self-discovery, and loyalty. Moreover, Williams’ welcoming, even adorable smile also works well in the scenes where he endears himself to the students as a father-like figure.
3. The Birdcage
From then on, however, one must turn to Williams’ more traditional movies to find the rest of his best performances. The American version of the Birdcage lands the #3 spot (and is, I believe, the first movie to appear twice on the A-List when authored by yours truly).
Few movies showcase the true versatility of Robin Williams as an actor as The Birdcage does. The type of comedy you find him performing here is different than the typical dramedy performance you see in some of the rest of his filmography. It is unabashed slapstick, with no pretense whatsoever of seriousness other than in a wink-wink kind of way. And although the rest of the case dazzles (Hank Azaria primarily comes to mind), Williams’ performance as a flamboyant night-club owner with a somewhat sleazy look about him is hilarious, memorable, and at times even touching. Because of the nature of his role, he is fated to contend with diverse emotions from the people who surround him, pulling him in wildly different directions.
His role is of the conciliator in the center of it all, which requires both reacting to the comedic outbursts of others while delivering some of his own. And he does this flawlessly, staying at the center of the parade of outlandish characters, and ultimately serving as, arguably, the center spoke of the wheel of the film.
2. Aladdin
You knew after the intro that one of his cartoons would make the list, and it is unarguably Disney’s Aladdin. Frankly, I’m not sure why this is not #1. Maybe it’s because I’m subconsciously falling for the notion that a voiceover is not a complete acting job. Or maybe I wanted to make #1 more suspenseful, given that the column opens with my musings about how much I like Aladdin.
In any case, one can praise the music and say much about the other characters, but few cartoon characters are as iconic and as dependent on the talent of one single performer as Robin Williams’ Genie. From the moment he bursts onto the scene he steals the show, towering over the rest of the characters not just because of his size but also because of his on-the-spot voice, his talented singing, and his on-the-spot delivery.
Undoubtedly, Williams’ exuberance inspired and influenced the presence and depiction of the genie himself. It is hard to imagine a better cast role than Williams as the Genie, a role that will live through the ages as one of the all-time best, certainly one of Williams’ best.
1. Mrs. Doubtfire
But my own favorite Robin Williams role is that of the cross-dressing father, desperate to save his children and his marriage in the 1992 film Mrs. Doubtfire. The scene in which he has to move back and forth between playing the drag-clad Mrs. Doubtfire and being his regular self at a restaurant - trying to stop his ex-wife from falling for a new guy while auditioning for a role that may save his ability to visit his children - is simply brilliant and could not have been pulled off without someone with the acting depth and range of Robin Williams. His transitions from goofy, to faux-serious, to actual serious, to drunk, and then panicked as the gig is up, is fantastic.
The performance is also memorable because, unlike others such as the Birdcage, it allows for a slightly wider range in that it features moments of emotional seriousness alongside comedic outbursts. Thus, Williams goes from loving father, to frustrated husband, to doting old-English lady in the blink of an eye, nailing the transitions and mastering each facet impeccably. For me, this will be the role for which I remember, and thank him, the most.