Flubber

Starring: Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher McDonald, Ted Levine, Clancy Brown, Raymond J. Berry, Wil Wheaton, Edie McClurg, Jodi Benson (voice), Sam Lloyd
Directed by: Les Mayfield
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Science Fiction
1997

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: An absent-minded professor (Robin Williams) discovers a revolutionary new substance- "flubber" even as the invention costs him his only personal relationship.

Review:
Tim: I remember being 15 years-old and going to see Flubber in theaters. I was still at an age when everything felt new and therefore, I liked nearly all movies I saw. Even so, I remember distinctly leaving the theater feeling this vague sense of disappointment in what I just watched. Even without much knowledge or experience, I knew this movie wasn't very good. I didn't watch the movie again for over 20 years. Watching it as an experienced adult, I can say my teenage self was correct in his assessment. This is a disappointing film.

I read one critique of Flubber that complained that Robin Williams seemed tired in his performance and I think that reviewer nailed it. This is the kind of role Williams would normally attack with all his manic energy. He seems mostly listless throughout this film, like he's going through the motions. Looking back at this film knowing the tragic way Williams would end his own life, you wonder if this movie was made during a tough period for him. It's not that his performance is bad, but it's uninspired. He doesn't seem to really care about the role and therefore, we don't care. Now, I'm not suggesting Williams is all to blame here. Les Mayfield doesn't seem to be a very talented director and he absolutely deserves a lot of the blame.

I have to blame Disney, too, if I'm being fair. I know the Mouse House is so focused on making people happy through wholesome entertainment, but it sometimes results in toothless films. This is one of those times. The movie is PG (appropriately), but there's no spark, nothing exciting or entertaining about what we're seeing. This movie is a remake and it's one where nobody seems to try too hard. You can almost see the conversations- remake a Disney film, put Robin Williams in the lead role, and you have yourself a hit. Unfortunately, movies require a lot more than that to succeed. This film feels like it stopped there. The plot of the movie barely hangs together. Characters are mere caricatures and the one-dimensional quality to them sinks the plot. The film isn't very funny, either. I don't know if I laughed at a single thing in the entire movie, save for the scene where a guy ingests flubber and it ejects itself out of his rear end (15 year-old me thought that was the best part of the whole movie). That might be the biggest laugh of the film, which is a real shame.

The whole story feels so flimsy. I wasn't expecting any kind of scientific believability here, but it would have been nice if the movie tried a little. I still don't understand the properties of flubber from a chemical or especially physics standpoint. None of it makes any sense at all. I also thought it was an odd choice to anthropomorphize the flying rubber. Why bother doing that, besides pandering to younger viewers? It makes no logical sense and opens up a bunch of questions this film doesn't even try to answer. John Hughes wrote the screenplay, but I'm not sure what in the heck he was thinking, because the whole movie is an utter mess. The basketball scene is a great example of what a letdown the whole film is. The idea of kids with flubber on their feet and using the substance to defeat their rivals is a great idea. Unfortunately, the execution is terrible. No laws of the universe are followed and even the internal logic of the film is impossible to follow. Never mind the audacity of cheating in such a visible, brazen manner, or the fact that an auditorium full of adult humans react the way they do. Maybe if the earlier scenes did a better job of establishing things we'd be able to suspend our disbelief here, but I simply couldn't. I started rolling my eyes pretty hard at this point (and as a reminder, this is after a bowling ball falls out of the sky, smacks a man on the head, and he gets a concussion instead of his head imploding in a fountain of blood and brain matter). By the time the film reaches its climax, it simply runs out of steam. The jumping action scene feels like a massive letdown.

Marcia Gay Harden does a pretty decent job, and Christopher McDonald is always good in roles like this one. It was fun seeing Ted Levine and Clancy Brown in smaller roles. Jodi Benson does some good voice work, although her robot subplot was one of the worst of the film. As a whole, the cast doesn't get you very excited.

Flubber absolutely should have worked as a film. The special effects were so much better in 1997 than in 1961 for The Absent Minded Professor. Williams was a comedy powerhouse. And yet, the results feel so far below the sum of the parts. This is a forgettable, weak movie that is memorable only for its flaws.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
The Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber