FilmBuff1994 The World According to Garp is a great movie with a very well developed plot and a tremendously talented cast. Based on a bestselling novel, the film manages to balance many complex story and character arcs that ensue throughout that are all interconnected, but also vastly different, and I can gladly say that I was equally invested in all of them. I will admit that the film gets carried away with itself, going on for far longer than it should and becoming a little overbearing on occasion. There is a lot of messages and metaphors going on that it does start to become a tad overindulgent, trying too hard to make the audience feel something rather than letting it happen naturally. The cast is all around spectacular, Robin Williams shines in his first dramatic role and he proved from the get go, and I would imagine surprised many at the time, that there is more to him than just his funny, improvisational side, there is a soulful truth in his performance throughout. Glenn Close is also terrific as the strong willed, protective mother who wants the best for her son, she goes through a complicated arc that she handles with grace. Lastly, John Lithgow is absolutely phenomenal in this role as a trans, taking it on with full force and a caring nature that I am sure this community can look at fondly, he clearly tackled the role with great softness. Flawed, but very memorable. Funny and heartwarming, The World According to Garp is heavy, ranging from various emotions throughout, if you are looking for a good drama, it is certainly worth the watch. A young man finds his life being controlled by his wife and mother, he soon finds himself searching for freedom. Best Performance: Robin Williams

kecurtis-92997 I remember being a big fan of Robin Williams already from Happy Days and Mork and Mindy. I wasn't even a teenager when I saw this movie for the first time. I only watched it because of Robin not knowing it was his debut dramatic role. I've loved it ever since. Still gets me in the feelers every time. Changed the way I enjoyed Robin Williams career over the years. Not sure if I enjoyed his comedy or dramatic roles the most. He is and was one in a million entertainer

coolmoan-323-671275 This film is a treasure of acting and writing, but the DVD has been edited severely, leaving out some fine and important stuff. I saw it in its initial release (in a theater, so imagine my disappointment when memorable scenes were not there on DVD. Maybe Criterion can do something about that. This is, in my opinion, Williams' best performance; he will be sorely missed. Even his clunkers showed signs of brilliance and insight. His sweet humanity shone bright in every performance. "garp" also features excellent support from Glenn Close, John Lithgow, Mary Beth Hurt and Swoozie Kurtz. This should be in any film library that values style and substance.

GRWeston I'll admit off the bat that this is my first John Irving experience. I had heard his work is very quirky, surreal, American, and tackles subjects that make you squirm and in a way that makes you squirm even more. Garp exhibits all of these facets, and while I gasped at the awkwardness, basked in the Americana, squirmed at the subject matter and raised an eyebrow many times in between, I ultimately found it interesting, but I can't quite say that I liked it. Even so, I believe this is a fault of the movie and not the material.Lust. (Do I have your attention)? Anyway, of Garp's various subjects, this is the at the forefront, which becomes clear very quickly as the word is a sort of anti-mantra for Jenny Fields (Glenn Close), a nurse at an all-boys school and mother of the titular character. Having conceived Garp in a situation completely free of lust, having taken advantage of a dying WWII pilot who, shall we say, couldn't stop standing at attention, Fields is a woman constantly on the lookout for any kind of carnal expression. This is hardly a boon for her son, who is introduced as an imaginative, wistful boy whose dreams and fantasies are filled with airplanes and what his father might have been like, and who directs those yearnings towards becoming a successful author and, much to his mother's dismay, pleasing women, as he grows into Robin Williams. Garp is able to evade his mother's determination while courting his college sweetheart, but she still ends up making his life very difficult when, as soon as Garp's first book hits stores, she too assembles her own literary breakthrough: a sprawling and much more successful anti-lust manifesto. The work transforms Jenny into a sort of feminist cult figure, particularly to a group of supporters calling themselves Ellen Jamesians, each of whom cut their tongue out in support of a rape victim of the same name. As Jenny's influence expands, Garp does his best to provide a good life for his wife and kids, and while his efforts cause Jenny to gradually shed her misgivings, they of course draw the ire of the Jamesians. Naturally, this clash of ideals escalates to a shocking and circular conclusion.If anything, Garp's exploration of lust is successful at demonstrating the extent to which we control our lustful urges or let them control us directs our growth as people. What this exploration does, though, is reveal truths that are even more interesting, namely that staying too true to an ideal, no matter how honorable, can have debilitating effects, and that the rejection of any alternatives to that ideal often stems from fear and ignorance. This is perhaps best revealed in a scene where Garp's mother confronts a prostitute not to accost her, but to simply understand why she does what she does and if she gets any joy out of it. Poignant moments like these are the movie's strength, as are its performances, particularly Close as Jenny and John Lithgow as Roberta, a transsexual former football player and Jenny follower. Robin Williams' performance, on the other hand, is unsuitably passive, especially for a man under so many constricting influences. And as interesting as Garp's themes may be, it does not excuse the movie from telling its story unsatisfactorily. Many scenes that come across as quirky or surreal may have just been poorly translated to the screen. If I had not have known Garp was an adaptation, I would have figured it out, as I often felt the need to reach for some kind of guide for more information. Also, there is what feels like a push to make the movie into an inspirational family drama as it goes on, which does not really go along with its sensibility-challenging ways. A lot of the interesting parts I mentioned (the Ellen Jamesians, Roberta's dilemma) fall more and more by the wayside or simply become less interesting. But really, the movie never quite achieves the right balance between the surreal and the grounded, or even the comedic and the serious. A climatic scene involving one of Garp's sons and its aftermath, for example, left me wondering whether to laugh or cry, and even if anything really happened at all. In short, Garp left me with a lot to think about, but with a lot of it being whether or not the filmmakers knew what they had to work with or even if they fully understood it.