Plot
An absent-minded professor discovers "flubber," a rubber-like super-bouncy substance.

Release Year: 1997

Rating: 4.7/10 (26,796 voted)

Critic's Score: 37/100

Director: Les Mayfield

Stars: Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher McDonald

Storyline
Professor Phillip Brainard, an absent minded professor, works with his assistant Weebo, trying to create a substance that's a new source of energy and that will save Medfield College where his sweetheart Sara is the president. He has missed his wedding twice, and on the afternoon of his third wedding, Professor Brainard creates flubber, which allows objects to fly through the air. It looks like rubber, so he calls it flubber. This film is based on the 1961 Disney classic, "The Absent-Minded Professor.

Writers: Samuel W. Taylor, John Hughes

Cast:
Robin Williams - Professor Philip Brainard
Marcia Gay Harden - Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds
Christopher McDonald - Wilson Croft
Raymond J. Barry - Chester Hoenicker (as Raymond Barry)
Clancy Brown - Smith
Ted Levine - Wesson
Wil Wheaton - Bennett Hoenicker
Edie McClurg - Martha George
Jodi Benson - Weebo (voice)
Leslie Stefanson - Sylvia
Malcolm Brownson - Father
Benjamin Brock - Window Boy
Dakin Matthews - Minister
Zack Zeigler - Teenage Boy
Sam Lloyd - Coach Willy Barker (as Samuel Lloyd)

Taglines: The stuff dreams are made of.

Release Date: 26 November 1997

Filming Locations: Alameda, California, USA

Opening Weekend: $35,892,031 (USA) (30 November 1997) (2641 Screens)

Gross: $92,969,824 (USA) (26 April 1998)

Runtime: 93 min  | Spain: 90 min (DVD edition)

Trivia:
John Hughes' first choice for the lead role was always Robin Williams, but at the time he was in a bitter fall out with the Walt Disney Company and refused to be in the film. Hughes lined up some other choices including Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Goldblum, 'John Lithgow' and Patrick Stewart. As soon as Robin Williams made peace with the Walt Disney Company, Hughes immediately cast him in the lead.

Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: Midway through the film, the scene after Philip comes back home in his flying car and is talking to weebo in his kitchen and telling her how much he loves Sara and weebo is recording it. At some point while Philip is standing up in that scene you can see it's daylight out the window but he has just got back in from the outside being night time, further more to prove it should have been night time outside, he turns off the light to go to sleep and weebo flies outside to go to Sara's home.

Quotes:
Phillip Brainard: Weebo - - I've just solved all our problems!
Weebo: [showing an image of Dumbo on her display screen] I'm all ears.

Mildly amusing kids film

Rating:

An absent minded professor discovers a new type of rubber that can be harnessed as an energy source. However his discovery causes him to miss his wedding and lose his girlfriend. While trying to demonstrate his discovery to Sara Jean to win her back, he gets the attention of mobster Hoenicker who wants the discovery for himself.

The story here is unimportant - it's all a bit daft and if you look too closely at it, it all falls apart. For example - the professor has created a flying robot that has full intelligence and character but yet he hasn't made any money for himself or his college!, is the flubber alive or not? etc. But really it's all about the set pieces and the jokes. As such it falls down a little - it's good for kids but there's nothing in the crude slapstick for adults. Jokes include the usual "people getting hit in the head" style humour.

Williams character is not funny at all - a bit of a weakness in a comedy lead. In fact his forgetfulness is just stupid at times and doesn't have any charm to cover it. The funniest bits actually revolve around McDonald's Wilson - he doesn't get good lines but he has lots of incidental laughs. Ted Levine and Clancy Brown have both done better than this and are limited to comedy thugs - although both were probably glad to be in a big movie. Other well known faces include Raymond J. Barry and Wil Wheaton, although these are also underused. It's not really a movie about performances but I think it's still important.

The best characters are Weebo and the flubber. Weebo is quite funny and actually has a deep character - she's the secretary in love with her boss type - she also creates a strangely moving scene. The flubber is good - best in one big musical number halfway through and I wonder if they could have had more imaginative scenes with it as a character rather than just a bouncy ball.

Overall it's a kids film - don't expect anything more than that.

Comments: