3 thoughts on “The High-Fiver: Essential Robin Williams Movies

  1. I’m late to the game here, but what the hell with Dead Poets Society coming in at 5. I’m certainly biased because it is one of my teenage favorites, but I think I’ve got enough objectivity left to know that Dead Poets Society should at least be above Mrs. Doubtfire and Good Morning, Vietnam. People are standing on their desks in memory of Williams, not dressing like Scottish nannies or pretending to be wartime DJs.

  2. That’s because standing on a desk is easy; dressing up like an old lady takes work! Dead Poets Society is solid, but it has aged poorly. If you watch it as an adult, it comes off as trying WAY too hard to be profound. It’s sappy. Good, but sappy.

    The one I figured I’d most take hell for was Aladdin. I wanted to make room for it, but what can I say? The man has more than five good movies.

  3. Yeah, as I was typing it, I thought you may go with the “ease of execution” argument. I still think there’s more to it though. The act itself connected life and art in a moving way, clearly showcasing respect for Williams the way the fictional students respected Keating. Even though it was easy to do, I think it would have fallen flat had his performance not built such a connection with the audience (and especially his fans). This is a connection that for me, even with all its sappiness, doesn’t come with some of the other movies in the list. Nevertheless, I haven’t seen the movie in a while, so I plan to test your theory of whether I have a different reaction as an adult.

    Also, for the record, I give you no hell for not including Aladdin.

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