History Film / WorldsGreatestDad

Robin Williams is Lance Clayton, a poetry teacher, as noted above. However, unlike John Keating, his class is very unpopular and he does not inspire his students at all. He is also a struggling writer who has not been able to get anything published. His girlfriend, Claire, is a pretty young art teacher, but she seems to be spending a lot of time with the handsome and charming English teacher Mike. And as if all that wasn't bad enough, his son, Kyle, is a surly, porn-obsessed, misogynist, {{Jerkass}}.

This film was made in 2008 and opened at Sundance in early 2009, and is now on DVD and Blu-Ray. It was directed by Creator/BobcatGoldthwait, who also directed ''ShakesTheClown'' (in which Robin has an uncredited cameo) and ''SleepingDogsLie'', a romantic comedy where a girl reveals she fellated a dog in college and her relationships start to fall apart ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Dogs_Lie_%282006_film%29 We don't make these things up, folks]]).

* HarsherInHindsight: This movie becomes a little darker after seeing the similarities between Kyle's death and Robin Williams' suicide in 2014.

* HarsherInHindsight: This movie becomes a little darker after seeing the similarities between Kyle's death and Robin William's suicide in 2014.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Lance is a social outcast, but he no longer has to live with the guilt his success based on lies about his son's death.]]

* ActorAllusion: Creator/RobinWilliams plays a poetry teacher at a private school where a student commits suicide.
** At one point, one of his colleagues has written a short story whose title Robin identifies as being a reference to Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/IRobot''. Robin Williams starred in the film adaptation of Asimov's ''BicentennialMan'', but you can forgive someone for considering it an allusion.

* HeyItsThatGuy - Voice actor TomKenny has a cameo as a television producer. Kenny and Goldthwait were high school friends and performed comedy under the name "Tomcat and Bobcat," which is where Goldthwait acquired his nickname (and no, it's not the source of the name of [[SpongebobSquarepants Kenny's best known role]]).
** Krist Novoselic, Music/{{Nirvana}}'s former bassist, also has a cameo as a newspaper vendor.

Well, not quite. While Creator/RobinWilliams does play a poetry teacher, and there is the [[spoiler:faking of a suicide note (which leads to the dead teenager's posthumous popularity)]], there is much, ''much'' more to the film than that.

Robin Williams is Lance Clayton, a poetry teacher, as noted above. However, unlike John Keating, his class is very unpopular and he does not inspire his students at all. He is also a struggling writer who has not been able to get anything published. His girlfriend, Claire, is a pretty young art teacher, but she seems to be spending a lot of time with the handsome and charming English teacher Mike. And as if all that wasn't bad enough, his son, Kyle, is a surly, porn-obsessed, misogynist, {{Jerkass}}. [[spoiler:One day, Lance comes home to find that Kyle has died from [[EroticAsphyxiation autoerotic asphyxiation]]. In order to give the boy some dignity in death, Lance pens a suicide note before summoning the authorities. By chance, that note is published in Kyle's school newspaper, instantly transforming him into a misunderstood cult icon among the impressionable student body. Lance then creates a fake journal which he claims was Kyle's, and is suddenly faced with the possibility of all the fame, fortune and popularity he ever dreamed of, if he can only live with the knowledge of how he got there.]]

* [[spoiler:AssholeVictim]]

* [[spoiler:NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead]]

* OnlySaneMan: Andrew, Kyle's only friend who is the only one unconvinced by his "journals" since he knew Kyle well enough to know that it's completely unfitting.

* [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil News Articles Always Spoil]] - Anyone who read any news articles on the film before they saw it would already know that [[spoiler:Kyle dies.]]
** The Netflix blurb also spoils that point.

This film was made in 2008 and opened at Sundance in early 2009, and is now on DVD and Blu-Ray. It was directed by BobcatGoldthwait, who also directed ''ShakesTheClown'' (in which Robin has an uncredited cameo) and ''SleepingDogsLie'', a romantic comedy where a girl reveals she fellated a dog in college and her relationships start to fall apart ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Dogs_Lie_%282006_film%29 We don't make these things up, folks]]).

* TheAce: Mike, the resident CoolTeacher who is successful in ways Lance isn't (popular with students and staff, managed to get a story published in The New Yorker, has a close relationship with his kids).

* ActorAllusion: RobinWilliams plays a poetry teacher at a private school where a student commits suicide.

* ContemptibleCover: Some people who otherwise would have seen this film were driven away by the poster (above), since no one seems to have told the designers that "red text on a white background" has become synonymous with [[SeltzerAndFriedberg extremely horrible movies]]. Also, considering the last RobinWilliams film to use the "red text on a white background" cliche was ''License To Wed''... thank goodness the DVD cover is much different.

* ShoutOut - Lance quotes SimonPegg on modern zombies ("Death is an impediment, not an energy drink").

Much like ''Film/Psycho'', most of the film's plot is driven by a {{Spoiler}} that happens early on in the film. However, the film is not old enough for this to be a case of ItWasHisSled / AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame.

Well, not quite. While Creator/RobinWilliams does play a poetry teacher, and there is the faking of a suicide note (which leads to the dead teenager's posthumous popularity), there is much, much more to the film than that.

Much like ''Film/Psycho'', most of the film's plot is driven by a {{Spoiler}} that happens early on in the film. However, the film is not old enough for this to be a case of ItWasHisSled/AllThereIsToKnowAboutTheCryingGame.

* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: Lance catches Kyle performing Autoerotic Asphyxiation in the beginning. The second time is much less fortunate.

Robin Williams is Lance Clayton, a poetry teacher, as noted above. However, unlike John Keating, his class is very unpopular and he does not inspire his students at all. He is also a struggling writer who has not been able to get anything published. His girlfriend, Claire, is a pretty young art teacher, but she seems to be spending a lot of time with the handsome and charming English teacher Mike. And as if all that wasn't bad enough, his son, Kyle, is a surly, porn-obsessed, misogynist, {{Jerkass}}. One day, Lance comes home to find that Kyle has died from [[EroticAsphyxiation autoerotic asphyxiation]]. In order to give the boy some dignity in death, Lance pens a suicide note before summoning the authorities. By chance, that note is published in Kyle's school newspaper, instantly transforming him into a misunderstood cult icon among the impressionable student body. Lance then creates a fake journal which he claims was Kyle's, and is suddenly faced with the possibility of all the fame, fortune and popularity he ever dreamed of, if he can only live with the knowledge of how he got there.

* HeyItsThatGuy - Voice actor TomKenny has a cameo as a television producer. Kenny and Goldthwait were high school friends and performed comedy under the name "Tomcat and Bobcat," which is where Goldthwait acquired his nickname (and no, it's not the source of the name of [[SpongebobSquarepants Kenny's best known role]].).

* MayDecemberRomance: Lance is considerably older than Claire, depending on whether Lance is supposed to be around the same age as Robin Williams or not.

This film was made in 2008 and opened at Sundance in early 2009, and is now on DVD and Blu-Ray. It was directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, who also directed ''ShakesTheClown'' (in which Robin has an uncredited cameo) and ''SleepingDogsLie'', a romantic comedy where a girl reveals she fellated a dog in college and her relationships start to fall apart ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Dogs_Lie_%282006_film%29 We don't make these things up, folks]]).

* [[spoiler: AssholeVictim]]

* [[spoiler:NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead]]

This film was made in 2008 and opened at Sundance in early 2009, and is now on DVD and Blu-Ray. It was directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, who also directed ''Shakes The Clown'' (in which Robin has an uncredited cameo) and ''Sleeping Dogs Lie'', a romantic comedy where a girl reveals she fellated a dog in college and her relationships start to fall apart ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeping_Dogs_Lie_%282006_film%29 We don't make these things up, folks]]).