A Hollywood legend, Robin Williams was always memorable in every role he took on, whether it was in Jumanji, Mrs. Doubtfire, Hook, Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, or even voicing Genie in Aladdin. There was always an energy running through him, whether he was doing comedy or taking on more dramatic roles, to the point where he became known for characters who talked fast, did voices, improvised nonstop, and almost always had some kind of big heart underneath it all. However, 2002 put that image to the test in a way that very few productions in his career ever managed to. That year, Williams starred in some movies that were crucial in showing audiences that he could do so much more than just be funny or lovable.
More than a decade ago, we saw three different ways the actor stepped away from that kind of likable character who shows up to lift the mood of the story, helping cement him as one of the most memorable stars in the industry. Have you watched any of these films?
We already know Williams was magnificent at comedy, but there was also a side of him that knew how to play around with that, and he started showing it in One Hour Photo. In the movie, he plays Seymour “Sy” Parrish, an employee at a photo lab who spends years developing pictures for a family and eventually develops a disturbing obsession with them. However, Sy has none of the energy we usually associate with the actor, because he’s quiet, lonely, and extremely restrained, and the story takes its time exactly because it wants the audience to notice that something is wrong with him before revealing just how far his obsession goes. And even though the role demands that from him, Williams deserves a lot of credit as the execution is masterful.
Instead of trying to prove that he could also be darker by playing an over-the-top villain, the actor practically strips away all of his most recognizable mannerisms, to the point where even the way he speaks feels different. This acting choice makes the character much more uncomfortable to watch, because it’s hard to believe that this seemingly harmless guy is played by the same actor who always used to turn everything into a comedy show. One Hour Photo may be a movie people don’t talk about much, but it’s worth every second just for Williams’ creepy performance, which showed us that he could make people uncomfortable simply by standing still and staring at the camera.
If One Hour Photo already proves that Williams could be more than his comedic persona, then Death to Smoochy is where he completely goes off the rails. In the story, the actor basically does the opposite of everything lighthearted: he keeps all that energy, but turns the character into someone you definitely wouldn’t want to meet. In the film, Williams is Rainbow Randolph, a children’s TV host who gets fired after being caught taking bribes and is replaced by Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton), an extremely innocent guy who plays the purple rhino Smoochy. The problem is that Randolph can’t accept losing his job, his money, or his fame, and starts doing everything he can to take down his replacement.
It’s a perfect premise for exploring Williams’ more chaotic side, but with one important difference: Randolph isn’t the eccentric character who walks into a scene to save the day; he’s selfish, vulgar, corrupt, and totally obsessed with revenge. And this gives the actor room to deliver the kind of big performance everyone always expected from him, just without the filter that usually made his characters likable. So, basically, Death to Smoochy isn’t just Williams trying to show that he could do drama, but also showing that his comedic side could actually have a much darker edge (a very dark one). The result? The movie was pretty divisive, with some notable critics tearing it apart, but Williams’ performance was often considered the best thing about the whole experience.
Of all the films that managed to bring out a different side of Williams, Insomnia may be the biggest surprise, since here the actor isn’t just playing a dark character — he’s the villain in a Christopher Nolan movie. In this thriller, he is Walter Finch, a writer who commits a murder in Alaska and ends up getting involved in a psychological game with detective Will Dormer (Al Pacino), who is investigating the crime and also dealing with his own problems. But what’s interesting is that Finch doesn’t have to be exactly threatening at first; he’s actually a polite, intelligent, and relatively calm man, and it’s that balance that makes the character work so well in Williams’ hands.
You spend a good part of the movie expecting the actor to become more energetic in some way, but none of that happens. He uses the audience’s familiarity with him against them, and Insomnia takes that aspect and uses it to make Finch even stranger. Compared to Death to Smoochy, where Williams turns his comedy into something unpleasant, and One Hour Photo, where that characteristic is pretty much nowhere to be found, this feature finds a much more intriguing middle ground: he’s still Williams, but he uses his charisma to make you pay attention to a man who, in any other situation, would be very easy to overlook. It’s one of the best examples of how 2002 was such an outlier in his career.
