MovieChat Forums > The Final Cut (2004) Discussion > Robin Williams's choice of films/parts.....

Robin Williams's choice of films/parts.......... .telling?

posted 12 years ago by uscmd
14 replies | jump to latest

People criticize Nicholas Cage for his choice of parts, but I think Robin Williams's choices are equally strange.......in fact, I believe they are even stranger, especially from a psychiatric point of view. I.e., RW's parts are significantly farther away from "normal."

Thats his characters often creep me out, might be testimony to his skill as an actor......or bits of his underlying psychopathology leaking out, where it happens so often, I tend to believe its the latter.

Can you imagine being stuck in an elevator with Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters? Yikes!

[–] Guywithlastname 12 years ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9kpTvm6CYA&list=FL_u-CppmI5mzm09WadHTfvw&index=64&feature=plpp_video

OZ is the best show ever... EVER!

[–] CazRaX 12 years ago

My guess is that he reads the scripts and finds them interesting so he does them. Maybe he is not one of those actors who sticks to one kind of part cause they can't act, maybe he is skilled enough to do all these strange parts and likes a new challenge. Maybe I am wrong and he is just a psychopath working out his weirdness through his parts what do I know.

[–] MrCottonsParrot 11 years ago

Your post made me think that his character in this film, The Big White and One Hour Photo to name but three, he plays the exact same guy!

The quiet, humble, shy thinker type. I hadn't thought about that before!

(Not that I'm complaining - I love all those, espcially The Big White; one of my favorites).

Maybe he is so sick of the zany characters he was previously known for, he now opts for the totally opposite characters.

A lot of "clowns" in life are actually inconfident, who act crazy to over compensate. I don't know the guy but if he is one of those people, maybe these shy humble characters he does are nearer to the real man, than his former zany comedy guy, and that much less acting is required.

"Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends..."

[–] Mrpinkeye 11 years ago

i like his creepy characters, wish he did more like this and one hour photo and insomnia

[–] benman46 11 years ago

I like RW's move away from lighter roles into more serious ones. His ability to creep you out is down to his skills as an actor not because he's a Ted Bundy in the making. It's like saying Anthony Hopkins has the same effect because he would eat your liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti.

[–] Eve_of_Destruction 11 years ago

I think Mork from Ork was creepy.

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[–] caseyrook 10 years ago

Can you list a reason you found Mork creepy?

I'm not trolling, i'm genuinely curious.

[–] enigma-lake 10 years ago

I think it's just his acting skills. I'm sure the fact that he's a real life creep would have came out by now. He's incredibly skilled at these roles. Insomnia and one hour photo are excellent and he's great in this movie, with what he has to work with.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Delta_Orionis 10 years ago

He said he chose the roles that were meaningful and had an impact. A few misses for sure, but generally he had very interesting, sentimental roles. I think he was a very troubled but warm person, you can see the way he thinks from his interviews and standups and even choice of roles. I definitely wouldn't mind being stuck in an elevator with him. ;)

*May the force be with you.

[–] caseyrook 10 years ago

I've read a lot of interviews with him recently and i noticed he cited people he'd be working with as a reason he chose certain movies.

I think thats a big reason why he did movies that were not as liked as his others. It seems sometimes he didnt care what the movies were about. He just wanted to experience working with the director or another actor.

For example he listed Robert Altman as a reason he took on Popeye. If theres one RW movie i can go years and years without ever thinking about or even watching if its on TV, its Popeye. I can appreciate the look, the music and the directing of that movie but something about Popeye makes it incredibly hard for me to pay attention.

I can go without August Rush too.

SIGNATURES ARE STILL OVERRATED.

[–] caseyrook 10 years ago

I see what your saying. Robin did choose off the wall characters, but it seems for every "unusual" character, he played one "normal" character.

He played straight man John Keating in Dead Poets Society and then Knight in imaginary armor Parry in Fisher King.

It also seems that in some cases he played the same character but in a different setting and time period.

Look at Good Morning, Vietnam! and Patch Adams.

Patch and Cronauer both are good at they do, and make it a point to relate to the people they're catering to. They also scoff at authority and do whatever they want against orders from superiors. And then they're outraged that they are in trouble for their actions.

But in a contest between Nicolas Cage and Robin Williams, Cage wins by a landslide. Robin, i believe, was wierd by choice. Cage is just plain weird.

I CANT THINK OF A SIGNATURE RIGHT NOW.