In Bobcat Goldthwait’s fourth feature film, World’s Greatest Dad, a subdued Robin Williams plays Lance Clayton, an English teacher and failed science fiction writer. Lance also has the world’s worst son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara). Kyle is obsessed with porn (moreso than the average high school boy), constantly calls his father a fag, and has one friend, who he also refers to as fag. Lance takes this all in stride; he says he doesn’t “like” Kyle, he “loves” him because he’s his son. Then Kyle dies. I’m not going to give away how, or what Lance does when he discovers his son’s body, but it sets off a bizarre ripple effect through the high school, changing the lives of students who once loathed Kyle and forcing Lance to examine what it truly is he wants in life.

The above paragraph makes World’s Greatest Dad sound like an inspiring affirmation of life. There’s some of that in here, sure. But it’s the darkest, funniest, most perverted comedy I’ve seen all year. Bobcat keeps up his track record of subversive, disarming movies – his last feature, 2006′s Sleeping Dogs Lie, was about a woman who blows a dog – and delivers his most polished feature on the human condition yet. Williams leaves behind the schtick most of the planet has grown to hate and is perfect as the lovable loser in his mid-life crisis. The arc of Williams’ character from lovable loser to most hated man on campus is played out perfectly, although the ending didn’t really feel all that satisfying. Sabara is completely over-the-top as the 15 year-old scumbag Kyle. It’s a nice touch that he’s sweating in every scene; adding to Kyle’s off-putting personality. Remember kids in school that were always dripping sweat? “Sweat Rags,” we used to call them. Bruce Hornsby plays himself.

Bobcat has done a great job here as both writer and director and I hope this leads to some more serious scripts in his mailbox. It’s nice to see comedians outside of the Apatow and Happy Madison camps making critically successful comedies. The movie is currently playing in New York and will hopefully be seeing a wide release in the near future. It’s also available On Demand for about $7.

- Oh Mars