It’s been a decade since Robin Williams’ passing but his legacy lives on with these life-affirming movies…
A rubber-faced comedian with an innate ability to create improvisational magic and playful unpredictability, Robin Williams also showed incredible talent as an actor. Many of his movies have had a lasting impact and aside from being an unexpectedly excellent villain in films like Insomnia and One Hour Photo, his most memorable works have been films with a concurrent theme; celebrating and appreciating the joys and complexities in life. These lessons in life with Williams as a leading man or key supporting act rested on his ability to project an effortless warmth.
Watching the best works of Williams again is always a bittersweet experience given how many wonderful performances he delivered but also due to the philosophical and existential undercurrents in many of those best works. Carpe diem is the order of the day.
Here are 7 essential Robin Williams films that make you appreciate the joys and wonder of life while holding onto a little bit of youthful exuberance and creative freedom along the way.
The Fisher King
Jeff Bridges stars as a self-absorbed shock jock who inadvertently inspires a regular caller into his show, to shoot up a fancy restaurant. Terry Gilliam’s quirky fable then takes Jack to a low ebb, about to end his life before Parry (Williams) and a band of homeless characters intervene as if by fate. Soon Jack discovers that fate has played a devious hand when it’s revealed Parry lost his wife in the shooting Jack was partly responsible for. Unable to shake off a need to help Parry (hoping some good karma will rework its way back to him), Jack gets swept up in Perry’s odd fantasies about reclaiming the Holy Grail.
It’s often been said (unfairly I’ll add) that Gilliam’s best works, though vibrant and creative with wildly imaginative visuals, can be emotionally cold but The Fisher King is most definitely an exception. It has real heart and great interplay between Bridges and Williams whilst the latter brings so much depth and pathos to his role. Gilliam allows Williams to jaunt with his skilled mania but still gives space to instil a lot of complexity in Parry. Somehow this has found itself a little forgotten in time, not as immediately culty as Time Bandits, Brazil and Twelve Monkeys, but The Fisher King is an incredible film that beautifully balances comedy, drama, fantasy and compelling characters. Williams and Bridges are on absolutely top form, and Mercedes Ruehl (who won an Oscar) and Amanda Plummer are also superb.
Good Will Hunting
How to steal a movie from under the nose of the leading man (and one of the film’s writers) with effortless skill. Robin Williams wasn’t new to portraying an inspiring mentor. Matt Damon is the titular Will Hunting, a blue-collar shmoe with a short fuse who also happens to be a maths genius. Discovered while working as a janitor at an elite college, Will is soon thrust under the gaze of MIT but needs to find some direction and help. which comes in the shape of Dr Sean Maguire (Williams).
Damon and Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning script is perfect life-affirming fare but the film wouldn’t work without the unique presence of Williams who also provided some extra oomph to his character beyond what was written on the page. He’s the guiding light, who despite his own problems, helps to give Hunting a sense of direction, and more importantly self-worth. Williams deservedly won an Oscar for his now iconic role.
Dead Poets Society
Anyone with an inspirational teacher will know that they truly help define you at a key stage of life. Williams plays Mr Keating in Dead Poets Society crafting one of his most unforgettable characters in Peter Weir’s exceptional film. A group of impressionable youngsters in an elite boarding school, each have a complicated relationship with their parents and the path that’s been laid out before them. Keating (a former student) brings poetry and free thinking into their lives, even if things get out of hand.
Weir balances the joy with which the students find expression in poetry with the crushing weight of parental expectation that has devastating consequences for one of them. It’s an incredible film and one of the best life-affirming movies in cinema history, captain my captain. The entire cast is great and at the time it was a somewhat revelatory performance in Williams’ career that showed facets previously unseen in his film and TV work.
Hook
Though it did good (though perhaps still under-expected) box numbers back in 1991, Hook was greeted with an unusually mediocre critical response for a Steven Spielberg film. Likewise, the audience reaction was pretty mixed on release but it really did capture a generation of kids and has seen its appeal grow in time. Outside of the classic Disney cartoon, it’s also by a long, long way the best on-screen adaptation of the classic character.
Williams plays Peter Pan all grown up, having repressed his memories of his misadventures with the Lost Boys. Now a serious fellow who wants his kids to mature before their time and has no time for flights of fancy he finds himself thrust back into Neverland. Soon Captain Hook (a brilliant Dustin Hoffman) is back on his case and Peter has to quickly relearn how to fight, and fly but most importantly embrace his inner child. Being an adult with responsibilities does suck and it’s easy to become a stranger to the simple joys we had as kids, a key theme in Spielberg’s fun romp. Williams has so much spark working among a young cast, whilst able to ably deliver the weightier moments of drama. It’s a balance few have perfected over the years.
Mrs Doubtfire
Almost the flipside to Hook, we have Mrs Doubtfire where Williams plays manchild Daniel, whose irresponsible and reckless nature proves frustrating for his soon-to-be ex-wife (Sally Field). He’s a guy who needs to grow up. She’s fed up having to play bad cop and picking up the pieces every time he does something ridiculous to entertain their children. When you view this film as a parent you suddenly find yourself siding more with Field who for a kid watching was something of a grump-faced stick in the mud.
Okay, the premise, which sees Williams flouting visitation rules by posing as an Elderly (female) Scottish nanny to have more time with his kids, is ridiculous but it’s a classic mid-90s comedy with a kooky concept. Williams lets loose his improvisational talents in the film as he slowly realises he has a lot of growing up to do and responsibilities to take on. A family favourite and it just never gets old, largely thanks to the gusto with which Williams throws himself into the film.
Jumanji
We’ve seen some not-so-good Dwayne Johnson-fronted reboots, but the original Jumanji was a film filled with laughs, adventure and a little bit of heart for good measure, largely helped by the fact that Williams could bring a kind of humility that Johnson’s movie persona doesn’t exude.
A boy plays the deadly game of Jumanji getting sucked into it until it’s eventually played again by more unsuspecting kids (including a young Kirsten Dunst). They play and once again Jumanji comes to life, with their only escape being to finish and win the game. They then happen upon Alan (Williams) who has now grown up, having been lost in Jumanji forever.
Life’s adventures and challenges are hard and it can sometimes feel like you get lost in it. Alan gets a chance to win the game and take back his life before it’s too late but simultaneously to help these two kids from suffering the same fate. This one is still great fun.
Good Morning, Vietnam
Loosely based on a true story, Good Morning, Vietnam is an interestingly different dive into one of cinema’s most well-traversed conflicts, focusing largely away from the battlegrounds and looking at a face (or voice) of optimism in a bleak situation. Barry Levinson’s film unleashes Williams at the DJ desk, allowing him to riff to his heart’s content but importantly never overlooks what goes on beyond the walls of the radio station. Life has to carry on even in the face of horrors.
Though Adrian (Williams) is a flawed character, Williams even at his explosively flamboyant best still gives him a sense of authenticity and humility when he’s opened up to some of the harsh consequences of war. The film still ranks as one of the best Nam pictures of the 80s and is a tad undervalued, but likewise as well-loved as Williams was as a performer I’m not sure he gets as much appreciation as he deserves for his acting range and prowess, nor how magnetic a performer he was. Here he bagged the first of four Oscar nominations (all of which feature in this list), of which he won once. It would be fair to say he was well worth more in films like Insomnia and One Hour Photo to name a few.
What’s your favourite Robin Williams film? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Tom Jolliffe