If I sat down and gave it a lot of thought, I don't think I could think of a movie character I've seen recently as unpleasant and unlikable as Kyle Preston in Bobcat Goldtwait's "World's Greatest Dad". This is a teenager that likes spending time with himself a little too much (if you know what I mean), says horribly misogynist things to his female classmates, and treats his caring father Lance (Robin Williams) as an object of contempt. Kyle has has a foul mouth, little intellect, and zero friends. Well, he does have one friend, Andrew (Evan Martin), who is really more like an emotional punching bag. Just think, this character is played by Daryl Sabara, the actor who was one of the Sky Kids leads. (Yeah, go look it up. I was shocked when someone told me.)

What's incredible is that such a sharply funny and oddly poignant film can have such a rotten center. Then again, that's part of film's creatively off-kiltered points. While Kyle is the center, Dad is our focus point. Lance is a failed writer who teaches a sparsely-attended poetry class at a local private school. He's a single dad with the above-described jerk of a son. He dates Claire (Alexie Gilmore), the hot art teacher who doesn't want them to be seen as a couple in public. He's also a writer who's never had a thing published. Not a book, short story, magazine article. Williams, who uses his expressive eyes well when directors don't let his shtick get out of control, captures the failed sadness of this character. He loves his son, but confesses that he really doesn't like him. Despite everything Lance tries to do, Kyle does nothing in return but spit vile and nastiness.

Once Goldtwait gets us nicely acquainted with all the awful aspects of Kyle, something horribly tragic and awful happens. I thought I knew what happens before I went into "World's Greatest Dad" but didn't really know the full extent. It's better that way. This allows Lance to make Kyle into something he isn't: A pleasant and likable person. Kyle becomes an iconic figure to peers who would not give him the time of day. All hopes and fears are projected upon Kyle. These characters aren't nearly as horrible as Kyle, but their shallowness and emptiness are just as bad. While one can certainly understand his motives, it's certainly hard to understand how self-centered and pitiful he becomes.

What "World's Greatest Dad" boils down to is a darkly funny and oddly sad film about how tragedy and the misfortunes of others can really bring out the worst in all of us. When someone is gone and their faults are no longer abundant, people tend to project all sorts of anxieties and hopes and fears on what we remember about that person. All of the celebrity deaths of the past year have shown, to a great extent, how willing we are to forget the things we did not like while someone was alive and to create things about a person that surely did not even exist. Goldtwait's takes the view that such attitude is absurd and simplistic. He does not develop this theory by making the characters of his film unbelievable or cartoonish. He does this by shading them darkly while resisting the temptation for caricature. While the film has to reel back towards the end when it starts taking the point far beyond the point of reality. the majority of the film has an assured, steady tone and a rationale approach to irrational matter. Not a bad amount of balance and subtlety for a guy best known for being in the Police Academy series.

The best part of the film is Williams' performance. Every three or four years, Williams forgoes his insufferable mugging and unhinged "impromptu" style to deliver an actual performance. There are moments played out in total silence where he's able to take his physical acting skills and use them to generate real empathy. Although the failed writer character has been done to death in film, the character of Lance Clayton is able to use this in order to examine the expression of the written word. As a poetry teacher, he asks his students to look for truth and honesty in what they write. To deal with reforming his son, he uses words to create a falsehood that nonetheless makes people react in ways the truth never could. Does that necessarily mean that those lies are bad if they have a positive result? The answer - or at least this film's answer - comes at the end in a spoon-fed message when the truth comes out not as poetry but as blunt nastiness. I would like to think "World's Greatest Dad" wants me to ponder such simplistic truth as some sort of poetic form. But I think this is presented with a certain conclusiveness and that's a little disappointing. Then again, this is the most I've thought of ANY Robin Williams performance since the delightfully strange 2006 vehicle "Man of the People". I am grateful for the little things in life.  

For a movie that is as nervy and well-done up to that point, I am willing to cut "World's Greatest Dad" a break. This is playing downtown at the Moxie at least for the rest of the week.  

Three and a half stars (out of five)

"World's Greatest Dad" is rated R for language, crude and sexual content, some drug use and disturbing images.