SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

TownRootGuy This is a must see for movie buffs, a probably for Williams fans, a maybe for liberals and it seems likely to be loathsome to the far right. It's ... bizarre? Garp has some great stars AND the funny might leave you breathless at times but it shouldn't leave you tongue-less.It's ... uh ... an interesting movie. I can't recommend it simply because I doubt most people would enjoy it today. I can watch it every 10 years or so.

mark.waltz In retrospect of Robin Williams' all too short life, I had to single out two films that were amazingly touching to me, this film based upon the novel by John Irving, and the cult classic "What Dreams May Come". After success on T.V. and the fiasco that was "Popeye", Williams finally became a major forced to be reckoned with on the big screen with this drama filled with subtle comedy about a free-spirited man influenced by his free spirited mom who purposely seduced a dying soldier simply so she could have his child."Don't you dare say sperm in this house!", her imperious papa (Hume Cronyn in an amusing cameo) tells daughter Glenn Close, a nurse with a love of life determined to be a mother without the benefit of marriage. "Why she never even met the son of a bitch", Cronyn tells wife Jessica Tandy, upset to think that she basically raped the innocent man. Mom and dad may not have understood their daughter, but her son (Williams) understands her and loves her greatly, which is proved in a tragic scene where he understands without even knowing that something horrible has just taken place. Close focuses the first part of her life on raising him with great values yet independence, then she moves on to become heavily involved in the women's movement in protest over a young woman who was raped and had her tongue cut out to keep her quiet. Her assistant is a former football player (John Lithgow) who altered his sex to live as a woman. Free-spirited Williams instantly welcomes him/her as a close friend, a very touching gesture to see a straight man live by.Garp marries a smart woman (Mary Beth Hurt), has two children, and undergoes a series of marital issues all the while trying to fulfill his desire to "fly", having learned that his late father was a pilot. Indeed, fliers are everywhere in this life, such as the metaphor of a pilot crashing into the new house Williams and Hurt have just purchased. There's a free spirited sexuality here too, with Close early on pairing her son with hooker Swoosie Kurtz just to study male sexuality and later Hurt's revenge on her philandering husband by having her own affair which leads to funny but disturbing moment where the poor young man she is involved with leads to an ironic twist of fate. The serious elements of this film outweigh the comic, however, and there are many important issues covered here in showing the desire to live one's dreams that sometimes lead to tragic consequences. When this film was first released, there were many complaints from the book readers over how the story was altered, but what ends up on screen is truly memorable. All of the performances are outstanding, with Close becoming a full fledged star as a result of this film and Lithgow moving into the realm of major star to be. Williams proved that he could be a dramatic actor of substance, and Hurt is very touching as well. With direction by the great George Roy Hill, the film has stood the test of time, and with Robin Williams' passing, is worth re-visiting to show that behind the mask of comedy is an even thicker mask of tragedy that sometimes is never revealed until it is too late.

Dalbert Pringle Question #1 - Back in 1944 (the year in which this film's story begins) was it standard procedure for a nurse, like Jenny Fields, to mount a dying soldier (who just happened to be sporting an erection) and, thus, get herself pregnant? Was this act of low professional ethics an accepted policy in the nurse's handbook? Question #2 - Am I the only one who thinks it's really screwy that after a woman has done such a thing (as mentioned above) that she then go around boasting about it, even to her parents, as well as talking about it in the presence of the son who was conceived this way? Question #3 - And would you deem it deranged and hypocritical for this very same woman to be calling adolescent boys "sick" for looking at girlie magazines (?) - As well as disapproving of her own son's interest in women? Question #4 - Is it alright for this very same woman to write a book clearly encouraging other women to literally defecate on men as a means of gaining female empowerment and that way reduce men to the lowest position of being the absolute scum of the earth? Question #5 - Am I mistaken, or did this movie send me a clear message, telling me that no man is any good unless he becomes a transsexual (?) - As well as telling me that it's only women who've got the capacity to truly love their children? Question #6 - Was this distasteful, gender-biased, ass-backwards comedy really based on a novel written, not by a woman, but, by a man? You know, after watching this film with its decidedly gender-confused storyline, I honestly find myself unable to determine whether novelist, John Irving was, himself, a true man-hater at heart, or just a nasty, little woman-hater. I'd say that he was, very much, a lot of both.But regardless of how I interpret "Garp's" story, I think this film was a really demented tale that made "Feminism" appear to be absolutely despicable. It was very poorly conceived as far as a so-called big-budget "Comedy" goes.

Kyle Hodgdon I thought that "The World According to Garp" is a pretty good biographical film, however, it was not really the film that I was expecting. The tag line for this movie is, "he's got a funny way of looking at life." I do not feel like that is an accurate portrayal of this film. I feel that Garp has a pretty typical way of looking at life. I was expecting some quirky guy who was very unusual. Garp is a pretty normal guy who goes about his life in a pretty normal way.Robin Williams and Glenn Close both do wonderful jobs playing characters at a number of different ages. I also really liked John Lithgow as the transgender best friend.The ending really caught me off guard. I think it served as a nice way to finish the film so that we get to see the entire course of Garp's life, from birth to death."The World According to Garp" is a nice watch, but not an essential one. It is better than average though and I would recommend.