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Flubber (1997)


Flubber (1997)


5/10


Starring
Robin Williams
Marcia Gay Harden
Christopher McDonald
Raymond J. Barry


Directed by Les Mayfield


There are some movies that are meant to be left in the past. Life is something like that; whenever you reminisce about something, it always seems more exciting than it actually was. And that feeling gets passed onto movies. When I was younger, I can't count the number of times I saw Disney's Flubber. I recall enjoying it much back then, but watching it now, the only thing I’ve come to appreciate is the special effects. Other than that, I feel the movie has a very weak script and throws scientific words around without even trying to make any sense at all. The movie wasted the use of the late Robin Williams, who was churning out amazing films in the '90s, but this was not one of them.

The movie has a very short runtime, and that doesn't help. It introduces the problem, the cast members, the main turning point (the creation of Flubber), and then just throws them all into a pot, doesn't cook it well, and dishes it out.

This movie is a remake of a 1961 Disney film, The Absent-Minded Professor, with a screenplay written by classic comedy filmmaker of the '80s and '90s, John Hughes.

The movie introduces us to Philip (Williams), a very intelligent scientist who is always working on some new technology or discovery. His whole house is robotized, and Philip seems to be living the dream—he gets to do his work, teach, and has the love of a beautiful woman, Sara (Marcia Gay Harden).

Philip's main problem is that he is absent-minded, and Sara has been the one suffering because of it. She’s given him many chances to show up and be there for her, but he’s left her hanging numerous times. She has decided that if he does it one more time, she will leave him.

They had a major engagement, and Philip forgot because it was around that time that he created Flubber. Flubber is a green goo substance with enormous amounts of elasticity and kinetic energy. It can also transfer this energy to any substance it comes into contact with. Flubber is a little difficult to handle, as with each bounce, it gains more energy.

Philip now has a new challenge: his girl has left him, and his arch-enemy is moving in on her. He decides to use Flubber to try and get her back. He also has another problem: one of his students has a rich father who is trying to find something on Philip to force him to change his son’s grade from an F to an A. This man has a lot of resources and is closing in on Philip, so Philip has two major problems to handle.

Over time, Flubber has not been a critically successful endeavor, with many agreeing that it’s a fun movie for children but not for adults.

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