Summer of Netflix Day 26 - The Angriest Man in Brooklyn

Joel: It’s a good movie. It really is. It won’t be remembered as one of the best Robin Williams movies, but it does show Williams doing what he does best. Williams was just so good at rapid comedy. It doesn’t matter if he’s joyful, like he is in some things, or bitter and angry like he was here, his ability to cram so many words into such a small frame of time while still maintaining a coherent train of thought just works. Pretty much every time. I won’t pretend that Williams never made a bad movie, but this certainly isn’t one of them. It’s not one of his all time greats but it’s a chance to spend another eighty-seven minutes enjoying him fly through his dialogue in a way that only Robin Williams could.

Chris: In the early parts of the movie, I was a bit worried because in the scene where Robin Willaims’ character was arguing with the cab driver that just wrecked into him, it felt like it was a lot of faux anger. Like someone puts you on the spot and tells you to act like you would if you were angry instead genuinely being angry. However, the movie fell into a groove and so did Robin Williams and it led to something that was really enjoyable. Of course, it’s difficult to not think of the parallels between this movie and Williams’ death last year and there were moments in which I had that thought that I wish Williams could’ve gotten the happy ending his character did but that’s a whole other tangent. Looking at the trailer last year and how it was portrayed, I thought this was going to be another Old Hogs or RV, a family-friendly cheesy comedy that stick to the low-hanging fruit jokes and the emotional depth of a puddle. However, I was incredibly surprised with how much heart was in the story and how invested I was into seeing Williams’ character to be reunited with his son. Like Joel said, this movie was a reminder to all the things Robin Williams was a master at.

Your Viewing Homework for Tomorrow: The Aviator