World's Greatest Dad

As Lance Clayton

2009 | Comedy, Satire | 98 min | R | Official Site

General Information

Directed by
Bobcat Goldthwait
Screenplay by
Bobcat Goldthwait
Music Composed by
Jerry Brunskill
Theatrical Release Date
August 21, 2009 (Limited)
DVD Release Date
December 8, 2009 (Region 1 - North America)
Production Companies
Darko Entertainment, Process Media, Jerkschool Productions, Cinetic Media
Distribution Company
Magnolia Pictures (US)

Main Cast

Robin Williams
Lance Clayton
Daryl Sabara
Kyle Clayton
Alexie Gilmore
Claire Reed
Mitzi McCall
Bonnie
Evan Martin
Andrew
Dan Spencer
Dan Spencer
Bobcat Goldthwait
Driver

Summary

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. In World's Greatest Dad, a wickedly funny dark comedy, Lance Clayton (Robin Williams) discovers that what he covets most in life may not be what makes him happy, and being lonely is not necessarily the same as being alone. Lance is a high school poetry teacher who dreams of becoming a rich and famous writer. A single father, he tries desperately to connect with his teenage son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara), an insolent, hormone-raging smartass who defies his dad at every turn. Lance exercises his own hormones with Claire (Alexie Gilmore), a painfully adorable art teacher who may have her eyes on a bigger prize. After a freak accident, Lance suddenly faces both the worst tragedy of his life, and the greatest opportunity. Determined to make lemonade from life's lemons, Lance treads a path that could land him everything he's ever dreamed of, as long as he can live with the knowledge of how he got there. Alexie Gilmore is cheeky and Daryl Sabara is droll incarnate but it's the outstanding performance by Robin Williams that propels World's Greatest Dad. Writer/director and longtime-comedian Bobcat Goldthwait returns to Sundance with another lusciously perverse, and refreshingly original comedy that tackles love, loss, and our curious quest for infamy.

Quotes

Lance
If you don't act right at dinner, I'll stab you in the face.

Kyle
Bruce Hornsby is a fag.
Lance
He's got kids, Kyle.
Kyle
You have a kid, and you're a fag.
Lance
Why? Because I like Bruce Hornsby?
Kyle
Yeah.
Lance
Well, put on some music you like, Kyle.
Kyle
No, I fucking hate music.

Lance
All music is gay now? What about heavy metal?
Kyle
That probably is the faggiest of all the fag music out there.

Lance
It's 9:30, we could go to a video store and get a movie.
Kyle
Are you stupid? Movies are for losers who aren't fags.

Claire
So, do you play sports?
Kyle
No, I'm a big spaz like my dad.
Lance
Well, I was in the dive team in college.
Kyle
Diving is not really a sport, it's falling.

Filming Info

The film crew is set up this week (July 16, 2008) at the former F.A. McDonald School, thanks in part to WashingtonFilmWorks, which had a hand in Goldthwait's decision to shoot here. Since last year, the state has offered financial incentives to production companies. If feature films spend more than $500,000 on expenses such as food, housing and labor, WashingtonFilmWorks will pay 20 percent of the costs back to the production company. Amy Lillard Dee, executive director of WashingtonFilmWorks, said "World's Greatest Dad" is expected to spend $2 million in the state on local food, labor, transportation and lodging, netting the producers $400,000 in return.

Bobcat about Robin

Robin's an old, old friend of mine, but I've never really pimped him or exploited him. He always acts like we're peers, which is really weird; it reminds me of Marlon Brando hanging out with Wally Cox. But I didn't write the part with him in mind. I was telling a mutual buddy about it over dinner, and he was like, "What about Robin?" Robin really liked Sleeping Dogs Lie, and he read this, and he said, "I'd like to be in your movie." [Laughs] It's so weird. I even had to rewrite it because the guy I had was younger.