After getting his start on the ’70s sitcom “Mork and Mindy,” Robin Williams left the show to become one of the biggest stars in comedy.
His movies, which include “Aladdin,” “Good Will Hunting,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Jumanji,” and “Hook,” have made hundreds of millions at the box office. Before his death in 2014, Williams was easily one of the most beloved comedians of all time, and one of the few stand-ups who became a true movie star.
But not all of his films have been successful with critics.
We’ve identified the 10 best and 10 worst movies that Williams has starred in, according to critics’ scores on Rotten Tomatoes. See where your favorite Williams film lands.
First: the worst films of Williams’ career, according to criitcs.
Williams is one of the funniest and most beloved comedians of all time, but his movie career definitely had ups and downs.
9 (tie). “Absolutely Anything” (2015)
“Absolutely Anything” focuses on Simon Pegg’s Neil Clarke, who is empowered by a race of aliens to do whatever he wants, in order to determine if humanity is worth saving or not. Williams plays the voice of Neil’s talking dog, Dennis.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Stephen Dalton wrote, “‘Absolutely Anything’ is a good idea but is executed poorly, with a lame take-home message about great power demanding great responsibility.”
9 (tie). “Jack” (1996)
Jack (Williams) is born after his mother is pregnant for just 10 weeks, but is somehow the size of a full-term baby. He is diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder that makes his body age rapidly. It means that for most of the movie, he’s a 10-year-old in the body of a 40-year-old.
“Mr. Williams is lively and sometimes touching, but this is one of his less freewheeling performances, with little room for spontaneity in the film’s mostly conventional scheme,” wrote The New York Times’ Janet Maslin.
8. “A Merry Friggin’ Christmas” (2014)
In “A Merry Friggin’ Christmas,” Williams plays an eccentric father, Mitch. His son, Boyd (Joel McHale), is forced to spend Christmas Eve at his parents’ house, and teams up with his father to race home on Christmas morning to help his son open presents.
“Whereas ‘Bad Santa’ was nastier and riskier, as well as more mischievously winsome, ‘A Merry Friggin’ Christmas’ is as curiously timid as it is morally dubious,” wrote Slant Magazine’s Nick Prigge.
7. “Club Paradise” (1986)
Williams stars as retired firefighter Jack Moniker who opens a resort on a tropical island with a reggae singer, played by Jimmy Reed. Over the course of the film, they deal with eager tourists, eccentric locals, and greedy land developers who wish to stop them.
“A frenetically unfunny and charmless movie,” wrote the Los Angeles Times‘ Sheila Benson.
6. “House of D” (2004)
“House of D,” which was directed by David Duchovny, mostly takes place in 1973, when teenager Tom (Anton Yelchin) meets a mentally challenged man Pappas (Williams) and becomes good friends with him. Tom also develops a crush on his schoolmate Melissa (played by Williams’ daughter Zelda).
“‘House of D’ never feels honest, but when Duchovny consciously tries to score sentiment points, the strain is more than the film can handle,” wrote Tasha Robinson of the AV Club.
4 (tie). “The Angriest Man in Brooklyn” (2014)
When Henry (Williams) finds out that a brain aneurysm may very well kill him in 90 minutes, he makes it his biggest priority to reconnect with friends and family before it’s too late.
“The film never quite manages to figure out what it’s actually about,” wrote Bilge Ebiri of Vulture.
4 (tie). “The Survivors” (1983)
Walter Matthau and Williams team up as two men who meet on the unemployment line and accidentally witness a murder by a hit man. When it becomes clear that the hit man (Jerry Reed) is now after them, Williams’ character Donald enrolls them both in survivalist school to learn how to defend themselves.
“No one seems to have paid any attention to the screenplay or to have considered the awful truth that Mr. Matthau and Mr. Williams, each performers of great charm, don’t play together very well,” wrote The New York Times’ Vincent Canby.
3. “License to Wed” (2007)
Sandy (Mandy Moore) and Ben (John Krasinski) return to her hometown to receive pre-marriage counseling from her eccentric priest, Reverend Frank (Williams), who seems hell-bent on breaking up their engagement.
“It’s exactly what it looks like from the commercials — a one-joke movie, and that one joke isn’t even funny to begin with,” wrote the Associated Press’ Christy Lemire.
2. “The Big Wedding” (2013)
“The Big Wedding” focuses on the extended Griffin family who reunite for the wedding of adopted son Alejandro (Ben Barnes) and his fiancée Missy (Amanda Seyfried). Williams has a small role as the wedding’s eccentric officiant.
“Big wedding? Big fat nothing, more like,” wrote Charlotte O’Sullivan of the London Evening Standard.
1. “Old Dogs” (2009)
In “Old Dogs,” Williams and Travolta co-star as two best friends, Dan and Charlie, who must team up to take care of Dan’s newly discovered children after their mother is arrested while protesting.
“It all plods along to a familiar happy ending that is supposed to leave its audience feeling warm and fuzzy. I’ll admit the ending made me happy, because it signaled the end to this miserable movie,” wrote Bowling Green Daily News’ Micheal Compton.
Now it’s time for the high points in his career.
Williams starred in some beloved films such as “Aladdin,” “Good Will Hunting,” and “The Birdcage.”
10. “The Birdcage” (1996)
Based on the French film “La Cage aux Folles,” “The Birdcage” stars Williams and Nathan Lane as a gay couple living in Miami who must pretend to be straight after their son announces his intentions to marry a woman with conservative parents. Hijinks ensue.
“If ‘The Birdcage’ isn’t exactly the Mike Nichols-Elaine May movie of our dreams, it does manage to transform what was formerly a campy bit of French fluff into one of the loopiest, most hysterical family-values movies ever made,” wrote The Washington Post’s Hal Hinson.
8 (tie). “The Fisher King” (1991)
In “The Fisher King,” Williams plays an un-housed person, Parry, who suffered a mental breakdown after his wife was murdered at a mass shooting. When he meets a depressed shock jock Jack (Jeff Bridges), the two team up to find the “Holy Grail,” which Parry believes is real.
“A humane, empathetic, and very funny movie about a couple of down-on-their-luck guys, one of whom was a full-on street person,” wrote Stephen Silver of Tilt Magazine.
8 (tie). “Dead Poets Society” (1989)
“Dead Poets Society” is set at a fictional Vermont boarding school in 1959. Williams plays Professor John Keating, the new English teacher who uses unorthodox methods to educate his students about poetry, teaching them to seize the day and make their lives extraordinary.
“On the surface Robin Williams appears to be giving his standard performance as Prof. Keating — witty, sincere and lovable. But there’s much more here,” wrote Hank Gallo of the New York Daily News.
7. “World’s Greatest Dad” (2009)
“World’s Greatest Dad” stars Williams as Lance Clayton, a failed writer whose son accidentally kills himself. To save his deceased’s son’s dignity, Lance stages his accidental death to look like a suicide, and writes a fake note, which becomes a huge sensation. It’s all very “Dear Evan Hansen.”
“Williams is terrific as the downtrodden Lance, who guiltily seizes his chance of fame. The film’s direction isn’t always confident — there are baggy sections, and it’s rarely deeply moving — but it is consistently funny,” wrote Metro UK’s Anna Smith.
5 (tie). “Good Morning, Vietnam” (1987)
Set during the Vietnam War in Saigon (now called Ho Chi Minh City), Williams stars as a DJ on the Armed Forces Radio Service named Adrian Cronauer (a real-life Army DJ). While his superiors disapprove of his broadcasts, they prove to be popular with the soldiers and boost morale.
“Make no mistake about it: Mr. Williams’s performance, though it’s full of uproarious comedy, is the work of an accomplished actor. ‘Good Morning, Vietnam‘ is one man’s tour de force,” wrote The New York Times’ Vincent Canby.
5 (tie). “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” (1989)
The biggest box-office flop of 1988, “Baron” is about an 18th-century German nobleman and his fight against the Ottoman Empire. Williams has an uncredited role as the King of the Moon.
“‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen‘ is a fairy tale of large heart and limitless vision. Like its maker, it staunchly defies the exigencies of reason to pursue a bigger vision of imagination,” wrote Dennis King of Tulsa World.
4. “Insomnia” (2002)
Al Pacino plays Detective Will Dormer, a detective who is sent to Alaska to assist the local police with a murder investigation, although Will isn’t exactly living within the law himself. He’s plagued with insomnia after accidentally (or maybe not accidentally) shooting his partner. All the while, he’s investigating local crime writer Walter Finch (Williams).
“With a run-of-the-mill bad-guy actor playing chief suspect Walter Finch, the movie might have tipped too far Pacino’s way. But Robin Williams is a shockingly effective counterweight,” wrote Slate’s David Edelstein.
2 (tie). “Aladdin” (1992)
The movie may be called “Aladdin,” but the film’s runaway star is the genie, voiced to perfection by Williams. When Aladdin discovers the lamp and meets Genie, who grants him three wishes, he’s taken on a dangerous adventure to save the kingdom and get the girl, Princess Jasmine.
“Behind the mask of animation, Williams has discovered a limitless stage for stand-up comedy,” wrote Brian D. Johnson of Maclean’s Magazine.
2 (tie). “Hamlet” (1996)
Shakespearean drama “Hamlet” follows the young prince of Denmark who becomes convinced that his uncle killed his father, the king, in order to take power for himself. Williams has a small role as Osric, a courtier who invites Hamlet to duel with Laertes.
“A work of tremendous personal ambition equipped with a budget nearly equal in magnitude,” wrote Slant Magazine’s Rob Humanick.
1. “Good Will Hunting” (1997)
Williams steals the show as kindly psychology professor Sean Maguire, who teaches Will Hunting (Matt Damon), a genius janitor at MIT, how to be vulnerable and not be afraid of using his intellect. Williams won an Oscar for her performance.
“It’s a movie that captures (in a way that perhaps an older screenwriter could not convey) the limitless possibilities of youth, a movie in which a character can tell another, without cynicism, ‘You could do anything you want. You are bound by nothing,’” wrote Jason Bailey of Vice.
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