8 Robin Williams Movies That Don’t Get Nearly Enough Credit
Though there are a few rotten apples in his film basket, some Robin Williams movies were clearly underrated.
Robin McLaurin Williams was an American actor, perhaps best known for his comedic film roles. Blessed with the skill to improvise and create characters on the spur of the moment, Williams starred in the highly-rated films Mrs. Doubtfire, Aladdin, The Birdcage, and Good Will Hunting. He even won the Best Supporting Actor Award for the film Good Will Hunting and held five Grammy Awards and six Golden Globe Awards before his death.
Williams’s career started in San Francisco and Los Angeles, where he performed stand-up comedies. He caught his break in 1978 when he played the role of Mork in ABC’s sitcom Mork & Mindy, which ran from 1978 to 1982. Henceforth, his career soared, becoming one of the best-known comedy actors. Though there are a few rotten apples in his film basket, some Robin Williams movies don’t get enough credit. Here are a few examples.
Updated May 13, 2023: To keep this article fresh and relevant by adding more information and entries, this article has been by Gaurav Krishnan to ensure that we cover all the very best Robin Williams films that are underrated.
8Bicentennial Man (1999)
Chris Columbus’s Bicentennial Man portrays Andrew Martin (Williams) as an immortal NDR robot introduced into the Martin family household to be a servant. The film takes us through Andrew’s challenging journey to achieve his desire to become a human. Eventually, Andrew fulfills his dream, happily accepting to grow old with Portia (Embeth Davidtz), a member of the Martin family. Though critically bashed and becoming a box office bomb, the film helps viewers empathize with freedom, love, sex, mortality, and immortality.
7Popeye (1980)
Playing a cartoon character as revered and well-known as Popeye could be a daunting task for most actors. Considering how legendary the cartoon series was to kids and perhaps adults as well, adapting Popeye from animation to the big screen would have surely posed its set of challenges at the time the movie was released.
In what was one of Robin Williams’ first mainstream roles and his big break in the film industry, he puts in an almost flawless performance of the beloved pipe-smoking, spinach-eating, muscular sailor playing him to utmost perfection, translating the character from the cartoon to real life for the silver screen.
Director Robert Altman gambled on casting Williams for the role, and the actor duly delivered an exquisite rendition of the popular character, making the film even more lovable. With his slapstick humor, wacky jokes and gags and romance with Olive Oyl (Shelly Duvalle), and everything from his facial expressions mimicking Popeye to his dialogue delivery and carrying his trademark enthusiasm throughout, Williams’ performance as the animated sailor was as close to the cartoon as possible.
6Hook (1991)
Hook is an adventure film that stars Robin Williams as Peter Banning, an all-grown Peter Pan. Banning is a workaholic lawyer who barely has time for his family. He’s even forgotten that he is Peter Pan, but his past catches up to him when Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman), kidnaps his children. Tinkerbell (Julia Roberts) sends Banning to Neverland to save them, where he reclaims his memory, proficiency as a swordsman, and ability to fly. The film had mixed critic reviews, including the director’s (Steven Spielberg) lack of confidence during production, but was well-received by viewers.
5The Final Cut (2004)
Robin Williams could certainly hack it in the sci-fi genre as well, much akin to his performance in Bicentennial Man, which is already on this list. Although we’ve come to expect and enjoy Williams’ comedic prowess when he’s played comedic roles, 2004’s The Final Cut, directed by Omar Naim, showcases another side of Williams’ astute & brilliant acting craft.
The story is rather innovative and unique in conception and centers around Alan Hackman(Robin Williams) who is a “cutter” who edits the memories of dead people into a film montage of their lives so that their loved ones can watch it after they come to pass. He is then approached by a man who describes himself as a “sin eater” who wants to purchase the memories of a recently deceased wealthy businessman whose memories Hackman is editing, by enticing him with a bribe of $500,000. However, Hackman refuses because of the cutter’s code, and the story follows the drama that ensues.
Seeing the good and bad sides of the people whose memories he’s editing takes a toll on Hackman which Williams portrays superbly, and it’s a movie that also explores the morality and inner workings of Hackman’s mind and his innate sorrow given the duty his job entails. Williams puts in a stellar performance in his role, and it’s a film that despite bombing at the box office & having an audience score of only 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, remains a massively underrated Robin Williams film.
4What Dreams May Come (1998)
What Dreams May Come follows the story of Chris Nielsen (Williams), a pediatrician happily married to Annie Collins (Annabella Sciorra). They are blessed with a son, Ian (Josh Paddock), and a daughter, Marie (Jessica Brooks Grant). Unfortunately, the children die in a car accident, and Chris suffers the same fate four years later, leaving Annie in inconsolable sorrow. When Chris dies, he doesn’t realize what has happened, and he lingers on Earth for a while, confused, before he decides to move on to Heaven.
While in Heaven, Annie commits suicide, only for her to go to Hell. Chris makes it his mission to save Annie despite being warned that no one has ever succeeded. Eventually, he succeeds, and they are reincarnated. Critics bashed the film, but viewers appreciated it, giving it a more than 80% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film even won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award. Robin Williams delivered a memorable performance, capturing viewers’ empathy and attention, which is perhaps the reason for the high score.
3Jumanji (1995)
Directed by Joe Johnston, Jumanji is the first of its franchise. The American fantasy adventure takes us on a journey where a supernatural board game materializes wild animals and other jungle-based deathtraps with each player’s turn. Judy Shepherd (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter Shepherd (Bradley Pierce) discover the game when they move into a new home. Intrigued, they give it a go, not knowing the harm they’ll bring to the town of Brantford. They also set free Alan Parrish (Robin Williams), who had been trapped in the game for 26 years while playing with Sarah Whittle (Bonnie Hunt). Parrish tracks down and reunites with Sarah, so the four can finish the game and reverse the destruction they brought to the town.
Regardless of the mixed critic reviews, Jumanji was a box office hit that grossed $263 million worldwide, earning a spot in the top 10 highest-grossing films of 1995.
2Death to Smoochy (2002)
The film stars Robin Williams, who plays the role of “Rainbow” Randolph Smiley, the host of a successful children’s television show. He appears to be a sincere and friendly person on the show, but in reality, he’s an alcoholic and criminal. The law catches up with him, and he’s arrested. Randolph loses his job and home, and his show is canceled. When Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton), playing the character Smoochy the Rhino on The Smoochy Show, is hired to replace him, Randolph does everything earthly possible to sabotage Mopes and the character Smoochy the Rhino.
Death to Smoochy had a few good critic reviews, but generally, the majority were negative. The movie became a box office bomb that only grossed $8.3 million worldwide against a $50 million budget. The film has, however, been gathering positive viewer ratings over the years and currently sits on a 66% audience score rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
1The Fisher King (1991)
Robin Williams’ role in the 1991 flick The Fisher King earned him yet another Academy Award nomination, but it’s a film that may slip under the radar compared to his other films that were nominated at the Oscars. In the movie, Jeff Bridges plays a radio jockey named Jack Lucas whose insensitive comments on air spark a mass shooting by a troubled caller which leads to Jack becoming an alcoholic who also struggles with depression.
Perry (Williams) is one of the victims of the act of violence after his wife is killed in the massacre. Perry, who was a high school teacher, cannot grapple with the reality of the event because of the trauma of witnessing his wife die and ends up as a homeless delusional man who becomes obsessed with the story of The Fisher King and believes he’s on a quest for the Holy Grail.
Jack and Perry meet in rather uncanny circumstances after Perry saves him from a gang of thugs following a failed suicide attempt and the pair develop a bond as Jack proceeds to help his rescuer to get back in touch with reality and find love again after learning that he was inadvertently responsible for his condition and predicament. It’s a rather touching story where Williams’ performance makes audiences empathize with his character Perry and with his typical humor and depiction of the character’s journey blending fantasy with reality. Williams’ performance makes for an intriguing portrayal that is as heartfelt as it is moving.
As Niles Schwartz’s reappraisal of Williams’ performance in the film after his death states, “no Williams film can hit harder — or be so fully consoling in such heartbreaking circumstances — than The Fisher King.”
