The World According to Garp (1982)

Early Robin Williams dramady in which he stars as T. S. Garp, the "bastard son" of feminist icon Jenny Fields (Glenn Close). The film is based on the book of the same title by novelist John Irving, whose work I'm not very familiar with, but to me this movie felt a lot like something John Updike might write. Off kilter humor combines with a few shockingly difficult moments, and a deep sense of empathy for human weakness resulting in some level of profundity. There is one plot twist here which is pretty amazing, something I don't know how you get past if it happens in your life. The film is very deftly handled by George Roy Hill, a director who was something of a specialist in adapting wide ranging novels into film (Slaughterhouse-Five, Hawaii). The cast is good all around and contains some very strong work from Close, John Lithgow (who plays a transvestite), and Mary Beth Hurt, who probably should be better known then she is. Williams ably demonstrates his promise, foreshadowing later and better known dramatic roles. This movie pretty well blew me away. ****