An actor and a comic genius, Robin Williams left a hole in our hearts when he passed away in 2014. Williams was only 63, but he left behind a legacy that spun over many many decades. To some, Williams will be best remembered for his portrayal of a therapist in Good Will Hunting. Still, to others, he will be romanticized as an English teacher who once said that “medicine, law, business, engineering were all noble pursuits, but poetry, beauty, romance, love are what we stay alive for.”
Such was William’s versatility, that he pulled off not one but two roles, of a British housekeeper and a divorced bitter man with aplomb in Mrs. Doubtfire. This is just one of the many examples of what Williams could bring to the table. When the news of his death came in 2014, suddenly his cameo with Billy Crystal in Friends was unbearable to watch. Today, we decided to honor our beloved Captain, the man who gifted us with a comedic and philosophical genius through the course of his movies. Here are Williams’s 10 best movies, according to IMDb.
The Birdcage (7.1)
The Birdcage best highlights Robin’s enormous potential to play eccentric characters. Robin is Armand Goldman, owner of a nightclub club by the titular name. Flamboyant, energetic, and upbeat, The Birdcage belongs to not just Robin’s Armand, but also to his partner and star of the club, Nathan Lane’s Albert Goldman.
The openly gay Goldmans pretend to be straight for their son, who is getting married to the daughter of an ultra-conservative Republican Sen. Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman).
The World According To Garp (7.2)
“What does the T.S stand for?”
“Terribly sexy, it used to be terribly shy, I changed it.”
The World According To Garp is one of Robin’s hidden gems. The movie is George Roy Hill’s faithful adaptation of John Irving’s novel by the same name. Robin Williams starred as T. S. Garp in the movie—a struggling young writer, shifting between terribly sexy and terribly silent demeanor.
The World According To Garp released before Good Will Hunting and reflected the genius of Robin Williams. That he could take on any role, not just those of brazen/comical and eccentric men. Garp, Dead Poets Society, at the time, screamed out Williams’ potential as a probable Academy Award winner.
Insomnia (7.3)
The genius of Robin Williams, Hillary Swank, Al Pacino, combined with Nolan’s direction, at number 8, we have Insomnia.
Insomnia saw Robin portray Walter Finch, in a supporting role next to Al Pacino’s Will Dormer, a detective investigating homicide case in a quaint Alaskan town. As Will goes knee-deep into the case, Walter’s tormenting phone calls keep him awake all night. Truly Insomnia is Robin William’s surprising role in Christopher Nolan’s most underrated film.
Good Morning, Vietnam (7.3)
Classic, energetic Williams. Good Morning Vietnam is another example of how Robin Williams could drive audiences insane with his power-packed voice. You’d think the radio-jockey on official duty at a military station would stick to the rulebook of codes? Not really, no. But, when has Williams’ ever done that?
A real-life depiction set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, in 1965, Adrian Cronauer was sent to build the morale of soldiers fighting overseas. A job at which Cranauer highly succeeded, proving every ranked officer wrong.
The Fisher King (7.5)
What happens when Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges star together in a movie? The Fisher King prides itself on an intelligent script just like most of Robin William movies do. This is the story of Parry and Lucas, a homeless man seeking love and former radio-jockey seeking redemption, respectively. Robin and Jeff are in a holy alliance in The Fisher King. “I like New York in June, how about you?”
August Rush (7.5)
August Rush may not be solely Robin Williams’s movie, but his performance as Maxwell Wizard invoked respect for the actor. Wizard is a vicious surrogate father who collects the earnings of these children through panhandling.
There’s something deeply unsettling yet captivating about the unholy chemistry of Robin’s Wizard and Freddie Highmore’s Evan Taylor. Let’s just say they bring out the best of each other, even when the former is a cunning crook.
“August Rush” Doesn’t that warm you up a li’l bit?
Awakenings (7.8)
And now, Robin William’s powerful and brilliant performance in Awakenings as a doctor who just won’t give up on his catatonic patients. Williams plays Dr. Malcolm Sayer, who, other than getting chased by a man who “resided the Brooklyn Psychiatric Center Brooklyn New York,” successfully administers the L-dopa drug on them. He turned the tide of hopeless encephalitis lethargica outbreak during and after the events of World War I.
Robin Williams’s portrayal of the world-renowned physician Dr. Sacks was ever bit brilliant in the 1990 film, Awakenings.
Aladdin (8.0)
Let’s be fair, Aladdin wouldn’t have been half as entertaining if it wasn’t for Robin William’s Genie. To this day, Aladdin rests solely on Robin’s name. Matter of fact, this is something that the late actor wanted. But, as history shows, Williams’ vocal performance ended up overshadowing everyone in the movie and most of his works. In Aladdin, Robin spoke to the audiences energetically by breaking the fourth wall and continually gagging the pop culture.
Did you know there existed an intact “famous Dead Sea Tupperware?”
Dead Poets Society (8.1)
Welton Academy wasn’t an institution dedicated to conformity upon the arrival of an English teacher who taught to continually think out of the box. Teacher, philosopher, orator, and founder of the ‘dead poets society’ where students would gather and read poetry in the evenings.
Walt Whitman’s lines from ‘Leaves of Grass’ couldn’t have been better said and taught by the John Keating in Dead Poets Society. What an absolutely marvelous defense of humanities did John Keating make in this one—that language existed to woo women, that people lived for poetry, romance, and beauty. The professions are only important to sustain life. “I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world!”
Good Will Hunting (8.3)
Good Will Hunting is a movie that appeals to all, whatever you are going through in life, if you know Williams, you know this movie is your answer—and that’s because it touches on many themes of what it means to be a widower, an orphan, a genius without aid, a troubled kid, a person holding himself back.
Williams’ Sean in the movie spoke to many, cutting across generations and barriers. Leaving us with many but one looming lesson -what regret really is.
