FLUBBER
Robin Williams stars as Phillip Brainard, the kindly scientist who has
already missed two attempts at his own wedding. At the beginning of the
film, his fiancée, Sara (Marcia Gay Harden), advises him that their
upcoming planned nuptials will be his last chance. Also early on, we meet
Wilson Croft (Christopher McDonald), Phillip's competitor not only for scientific
ideas, but for Sara's hand. Wilson does nothing to conceal his plans to
steal Phillip's girl, and even admits to having gotten wealthy off several
of Phillip's inventions. He's comfortable admitting this because he knows
that Phillip will forget the conversation minutes after it's over. After
this brief period of exposition, the balance of the film is devoted to Phillip's
pursuit of his elusive new substance and Wilson's pursuit of the ambivalent
Sara.
The plot is really little more than a '90s re-hashing of the 1961 Fred
MacMurray film, including the rivalry between the two local schools, the
underdog basketball team being aided by the addition of flubber to their
sneaker soles, and the flubberized flying car. Considering this along with
the recent remakes of 101 Dalmations and That Darn Cat, Disney
is obviously issuing an environmentalist hint: don't produce, recycle. Notable
updates include a robot character called Weebo, a sort of flying R2-D2 (featuring
the voice of The Little Mermaid's
Jodi Benson), and the fact that in this version, the flubber seems to have
a mind of its own. There is a spectacular dance number featuring the transparent
green substance and a house full of robotic appliances, but no humans.
As expected, there is not a huge amount of social commentary or burning moral issues present in this film. Just about every character is a stereotype of the kind found in most Disney features, and there are a lot of running gags and slapstick comedy. But it is a lot of fun, and a great way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon, as I found out this weekend with my 6-year old son. He absolutely loved the film, and I have no doubt that flubber will be on his Christmas list this year (and Flubber will be next year). ****