The World According To Garp
(1982)
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Based on the John Irving novel, this film chronicles the life of T S Garp, and his mother, Jenny. |
This magical mystery tour of a New England writer's life — based on John Irving's sprawling and virtually unfilmable satirical novel — involves the mind but never engages the heart. The result is an uneasily structured exercise in pointlessness that's best viewed as a kind of up-market Forrest Gump. Robin Williams stars as Garp, a writer married to Mary Beth Hurt, who's forever at the mercy of lethal modern contraptions such as motorcars and aeroplanes, and overshadowed by his domineering mum (brilliantly played by Glenn Close in her feature debut). Director George Roy Hill contrives some felicitous moments — notably John Lithgow as a transsexual ex-footballer — and introduces topical themes such as celebrity and feminism, but felicity doesn't resolve into clarity despite good intentions. Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy (as Close's parents) are always a pleasure to watch, and both Close and Lithgow were nominated for Oscars.
Halliwell's Film Guide
Unlikely and uneasy film version of a somewhat cerebral novel; any drama there might have been in the original got lost in the transition, but at least the intention is to be applauded.