The only movies Robin Williams was “suckered” into making: “They waved a lot of money”
Everyone remembers Robin Williams as one of stand-up and cinema’s greatest-ever comedians, who headlined a string of iconic movies and won a bucketload of awards for his efforts, which is true. However, what often gets overlooked is that his film career didn’t get off to the strongest start.
It wasn’t until Good Morning, Vietnam, which won him a Golden Globe and earned the actor his first Academy Award nomination, that he truly found a vehicle worthy of his undoubted talents. Before then, the misses drastically outweighed the hits.
Barry Levinson’s wartime caper was Williams’ ninth feature, and his sixth time taking top billing. He was already a household name with a Golden Globe and a Grammy under his belt, but the search for a breakout big-screen role remained elusive until 1987.
His improvisational antics on Mork & Mindy had illustrated that Williams was at his best when allowed to cut loose, deviate from the script, and fly off the handle, something that most of his movies hadn’t provided. Instead, he was being forced into a box that didn’t fit, and two titles in particular convinced him he needed to find already-strong ideas he could elevate and not try to save a stinker single-handedly.
Williams co-starring with Kurt Russell sounded like it had box office potential, only for The Best of Times to bomb thunderously. The reviews were hardly stellar either, and following it up with the dismal Club Paradise, another flop that sucked remarkably hard, given a star-studded ensemble that also included Rick Moranis, Peter O’Toole, and Eugene Levy.
“They waved a lot of money,” he admitted, which is as good a reason as any for an actor to sign a contract. Unfortunately, Club Paradise wasn’t what he wanted it to be. “And then I tried to convince myself it would really be a political film. But slowly and surely it turned into just another beach movie.”
A retired firefighter partnering with a reggae singer to open a resort on a tropical island hardly screams ‘political film’, especially when one-note eccentrics largely populate the cast. That misfire, coupled with The Best of Times losing a lot of money, convinced Williams to course-correct his career.
“I took on slight projects, thinking, ‘I can fix this,'” he explained. “I got suckered into a couple of films like that. I thought, ‘Well, they’ll give me the freedom to do my thing,’ but it turned out they didn’t.” His next effort was Seize the Day, which aired on television and also received a reception that could generously be described as tepid at best.
After three notable misfires in a row, Williams knew what he had to do. Finding a talented filmmaker and a worthy script that married perfectly with his stylistic sensibilities was exactly what he needed to get back on track, and it’s not a coincidence that after making that promise to himself, Good Morning, Vietnam was his first role following a trio of duds and the one that launched him towards the Hollywood A-list.
