World's Greatest Dad

It wasn't long before I was back at the Kress Lounge. In fact, it was only about an hour. After Paper Hearts, I walked around downtown Greeley bundled up in winter garb for about an hour. I have spent so little time in Greeley over the years, that it was actually sort of fun to see some of it, even in chilly weather.

A few mintues before seven p.m., I back in the Kress for the early evening showing of World's Greatest Dad, another film that had already shown at the Lyric in Fort Collins. I hadn't previously seen a trailer of this movie, even though it stars Robin Williams. I had confused it with Old Dogs, which is a mainstream Hollywood movie coming out next month, and only realized that there were not the same movie when they showed a trailer for it before Paper Hearts.

In the afternoon, the Kress sells its tickets right from its bar. By the evening, however, they were selling tickets from a proper concession booth. I got to meet the owner of the Kress, and a couple other staff members. I felt like I had a cadre of new friends.

World's Greatest Dad is made by Bobcat Goldthwaite and is billed as a black comedy. That is surely is. It's very black---but actually not at first. For the first half of the movie, I was wondering what was so dark about it. It seemed like a free-flowing raunchy comedy, overall. But then comes an incredible plot twist, one that is very dark, and not funny at all. When the comedy resumes in the last act of the narrative, it is on a whole different level of humor, a grostesque one to be sure.

There is a nice classical climax. The main character has chosen to engage in grand public deception, and has benefited from it. The classical rules dictate that he must be exposed, and that specifically, if he is honorable, he must expose himself with a public confession.

We know this must happen, for emotional resolution to the story. The question is: what we will the consequence of this. The story pulls no punches in this regard, and keeps up its level of blackness right on through to the denouement. I liked this part of the movie. The subplots are all tied up.

Black, to be sure, but good storytelling that speaks to our time. A second good start for me and the Kress.