Bobcat Goldthwait was the last person on Earth I ever thought could make the transition from Eighties schtick comic to successful director. Sure Shakes the Clown is hilarious but I didn’t think he had anything left creatively like Kevin Smith has proven after Clerks. Seems I have been wrong for years. Bobcat was behind Strip Mall one of Comedy Central’s best sitcoms, segments on Chapelle’s Show and he allegedly turned Jimmy Kimmel’s pathetic talk show around; this wouldn’t be hard since Kimmel is the most boring late-night host since Alan Thicke.
A couple years ago, I was so desperate to avoid hearing commercials on the car radio that I tuned in KLBJ’s pathetic morning bitch-n-moan show and Bobcat was the in-studio guest at the moment. He was in Austin to perform some standup and discuss his upcoming movie with Robin Williams. The way Bobcat presented his flick’s subject matter was funny despite it being rather distasteful. His anecdote regarding auditions was great too; why does someone do a British accent for a part with only two lines? I can’t remember if he returned to show it off at Alamo Drafthouse or it had any distribution through the area. When it appeared on Netflix streaming, I put it in our queue immediately but failed to watch it until recently; when you’re home sick, your body won’t let you sleep 24 hours a day. Maybe I should use this to kick off a new section called Sick Day Theater.
I’m not providing any spoilers at this point since most reviews, trailers, word-of-mouth and Bobcat gave away the crux of the plot.
Lance Clayton is a failing high-school poetry teacher. His aspirations to be a writer haven’t panned out so he has settled for less while yet he keeps trying. Adding to the frustration is his teenage son Kyle; a foul-mouthed, porn-obsessed, contrarian douchebag Lance has had to raise alone due to his ex-wife abandoning them years ago. The two of them attending the same school only strains their relationship further: Kyle’s anti-social behavior jeopardizes Lance’s tenuous position; Lance being a teacher there hurts Kyle’s “reputation” (he’s a pariah through his actions not his father). The troubles extend even further: Lance’s poetry class may be dropped next semester for its poor attendance and his girlfriend Claire (the art teacher) might be getting woo’d away by the more popular creative writing instructor.
Then Kyle dies accidentally through auto-erotic asphixiation while Lance is on a date with Claire. Devastated, Lance adjusts Kyle’s corpse to make it appear like suicide and writes a well-written goodbye note to corroborate this. Lance also wants to save his son the post-mortem humiliation everyone would fixate on; people always bring it up with any mention of Michael Hutchence even though it isn’t true, I’ve read the coroner’s report from the New South Wales’ PD.
Lance returns after the funeral, resumes his routine and figures he will carry on. A couple days later, the school paper publishes the police report on Kyle’s death along with the letter. Seems he wrote it too well as it strikes a cord in the student body, transforming his horrible son into a Kurt Cobain-like persona. This newfound interest invigorates Lance’s poetry class (it’s packed), his romance with Claire blossoms and the teenage girls start building a memorial to Kyle. At first Lance enjoys the attention but he eventually gets caught up in a lie he can’t escape and it snowballs out of control: kids asking him for advice, Kyle’s fake journal to be distributed by a major publisher, an appearance on a national talk show, etc. It does climax with a resolution which is funny in a dark, twisted way wasted on most audiences accustomed to SNL’s factory of mediocrity.
Normally I find any film starring Robin Williams equal to jury duty yet I was impressed by his restraint which I’m sure Bobcat required for the role. I never doubted Williams could act, he just usually does crap involving his tired Mork act except for The Bird Cage. Overall I loved this movie. Good comedies make you laugh and I’m guilty of enjoying vulgarity: Beavis & Butt-Head do America, Caddyshack and Revenge of the Nerds. Most though are crap: too many to list. Great comedies provoke thought and other emotions such as World’s Greatest Dad or Your Friends & Neighbors. This even evoked memories of a similar event at my last high school involving an older classmate’s death in a hunting accident. How I would roll my eyes in disgust whenever I’d hear the whitewashing canonization by his ex-girlfriend or others. To me he was really just another hell-raising, beer-swilling jackass NoDak whose life pinnacled in high school which was closer to the truth. He and Kyle still didn’t deserve their horrible fates but the incident and movie both demonstrate how memories can be altered by the right words, deeds, feelings and/or overall zeitgeist.
I look forward to Bobcat’s next project since he made an R-rated comedy for adults and intelligent people, not for 13-year olds as Hollywood has done for 30 years.