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Robin Williams has surely had the most careers of any man I know, from psychologist to scientist from nanny to teacher. This man has done it and seen it all and today we focus on a few more of his iconic roles.
Curtis van der Berg on Awakenings
Awakenings is an intensely emotional film set in the late 60’s and features, in my opinion, one of Robin Williams most sublime character portrayals in his acting career.
This film has been especially important to me since I first saw it as a youngster in school. I related to the characters, comparing them to people in my own life and finding many similarities. This may have been the first film to vex my feeling so profoundly and the effect of this has stayed with me into adulthood. Since then I have been drawn to films that have a similar ‘human’ quality to them as I find comfort in the honesty they bring into our live.
Overall I think the message that stood out for me in ‘Awakenings’ was a message of courage – have faith in the face of despair.
“We are greater than the sum of our parts” – John Green
Matthew Hoy on Good Will Hunting
In this amazing film, we meet Dr Sean Maguire who is presented with a difficult patient. This patient named Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is in fact a genius. He can recite poetry and novels and solve complex sums in his mind, but what he cannot navigate is the choppy waters of emotions. The ebb and flow of the continual shift in feelings and diplomacies baffle him. He foresees disaster and so sets himself up for disaster as a means to cope. In this beautiful scene Robin Williams’s character takes him on with lines that are both moving and emotional. These are some of the greatest lines ever written and ever said in my honest opinion.
Jack Rattenbury on Flubber
Flubber was the first film I ever saw in the cinema. It’s one of the films that dominated my childhood for me and many of my friends. Instantly buying it on VHS as soon as it was released, it was my first film obsession.
Williams character Professor Phillip Brainard, was a crazy individual who I instantly fell in love with. The crazy, living green slime was just an added bonus to Robins performance.
Despite the not so nice reviews, this film is a touching tale of balancing love and work, something that is relatable to almost everyone.
The professors love for his work and family certainly can be paralleled to Williams love for his, which was also adamant on screen.
His performance in all his notorious family friendly films will be stuck in the minds of generations for years.
Williams was a rare gem, who most of us grew up with. His presence was constant in the nineties and his death was a horrible loss to Hollywood. From me and many others, Robin, “I love you with every cell, with every atom. I love you on a subatomic level.”
Matthew Hoy on Good Morning Vietnam
Many have cited this as THE film that would change the course of history forever. It set the tone for Robin Williams’s future films. It started a change in ideologies. Basically this film is set in Vietnam a conflict zone where thousands lost their lives and still haunts families to this day, but amidst this one man uses whatever is at his disposal to try and shine a ray of hope upon the desolate landscape of death and despair. Here we meet the Robin Williams we know and love, a man who could take serious morbid topics and make them bearable. Perhaps not always in a humoristic manner but nonetheless he became like our father who helped us look under the bed and scare away the monsters before we went to bed. He made us smile, he made us cry, he made us laugh until we were in tears but most importantly he made us feel safe. Whether it is from wild animals in the jungle of Jumanji or against Hook and his crew. From ourselves, from chemistry experiments gone wrong even from the pressures of school. He was a father to the children of the world including myself and that is why my condolences are offered to his beautiful daughter Zelda Williams who had to share this incredible man with the globe, thank you.
What do you think of this selection of great Robin Williams movies? Sound off in the comments and let us know about some of your favourites.
