(Review) Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind
07/17/2018
HBO's much-anticipated documentary, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind has finally been released. It's a two-hour look back at the life and creative drive of the late comic genius. There are classic clips, footage and pictures we've never seen before, and interviews with family and friends, all narrated by previous Williams interviews. Before we go any further, we have to acknowledge that we recently reviewed Dave Itzkoff's new Robin Williams biography, which many would say is the definitive account of the man's life. Television has limitations that books do not, so we'll try to not to compare the two (too much) in this review:
Observations:
- We start with a clip of James Lipton asking Williams about his creative process, and the actor leaps out of his chair and launches into a rapid-fire monologue that includes mention of his mother and his desire for acceptance in the world. (Both were major factors in Williams' life.) It's a classic Williams performance in that it seems improvised, but has likely been worked on many times before this performance.
- Most appearances featured Robin Williams when he was "on," and it's sort of startling how elegant his "normal" speaking voice was. He was a kid who grew up in Detroit until the family moved to San Francisco, but he almost comes across as an English gentleman when he's relaxed. It's just one of many differences between the performer and the man.
- Robin Williams talks about being amazed at seeing his dad (a Ford Motor executive) laugh at an appearance of Jonathan Winters on the Tonight Show. If not for the fact that these two men were alive at the same time for a period (and eventually worked together on Mork & Mindy), one might almost wonder if Williams was Winters reincarnated. Talk about kindred spirits.
- Williams mentions originally being a political science major in college, and the mind suddenly boggles at the idea of him as a political pundit. Oh the comedy that could have come from that.
- The volume of old pictures and video is amazing. This is the first time we've seen a number of these performance clips.
- His former wife Valerie mentions his constant need for connection. It was a dominant theme throughout his life, and while performing seems to be as close as he got to what he needed, it doesn't sound like it was ever fully enough. That makes his health problems late in his life, which robbed him of his ability to entertain as he once had, all the more tragic.
- We never get tired of hearing David Letterman talk about how much Robin Williams scared the hell out of him when he first moved to Los Angeles. It's easy to picture the Indiana native watching Williams and thinking, "How the hell am I supposed to compete with that?" Of course, they would still go on to become friends.
- Oh, that laugh. There's nothing like that laugh.
- It's still amazing how quickly Robin Williams' career took off after playing Mork on Happy Days, but as the documentary briefly addresses, the stars had to align just right for all of that to happen. There was some amount of good luck that brought Williams to Garry Marshall in the first place, and then even after his Happy Days appearance, it wasn't immediately a given that he'd have his own show. A different show fell through, Marshall needed a last-minute replacement, and thus a rocket was strapped to Williams' back.
- These Mork & Mindy bloopers are great.
- Williams refers to stand-up as "a survival mechanism - that's what I have to do," which holds true to the previous comments about the need for connection and what his health problems took away from him at the end.
- There are a few clips from some of his movies, including Popeye, Good Morning Vietnam, The Fisher King, and Patch Adams, among others. First off, what a kick to see a young Philip Seymour Hoffman cracking up in the Patch Adams footage. Second, the documentary doesn't really go deep into the hit-or-miss nature of Williams' film career. There are a few passing comments about the fleeting nature of fame, but his struggles with some of his choices over the years was a major issue for Williams, and there may be a connection to his alcohol relapse later in life, but that connection isn't really made here.
- Monty Python alum/Williams friend Eric Idle talks about his constant need for an audience. See above re: looking for connections.
- Son Zak Williams clearly adored his father, but he also doesn't shy away from discussing some of the challenges his family dealt with because of his dad's career.
- If you haven't seen it, World's Greatest Dad is tremendous, but understand that it is about as dark as dark comedy gets. Great move, though.
- There isn't really a lot of time given to Williams' final years and the problems he faced before he took his own life. It is briefly discussed, but Itzkoff's book makes it clear that Lewy body dementia was horrific for Williams which places his suicide into a little fuller context than what we get here.
Final Thoughts:
Robin Williams fans will love Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind. It's a terrific look back at a fascinating man and his creative energy. The old footage is amazing, his friends and family offer a real glimpse behind the curtain, and it's nice to be able to laugh at some of the old performances one more time. We are all better for having had this man with us, and the world has never seemed quite as funny since he left.
Grade: A
A tremendous creative force. (pic via popsugar.com)
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