January 2, 2024

It's kind of fitting as I decided to decline Disney's kind invitation to pay 33% more for my Disney+ that this is the last of their films that I watched. It sums up the mediocrity of this once innovative source of vibrant and creative animation - and presents us with a derivative version of a film that Jerry Lewis might have made in the 1960s if he'd owned "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" - and no, "Flubber" isn't even a dolphin! It all relies on the ra… read the rest.

It's kind of fitting as I decided to decline Disney's kind invitation to pay 33% more for my Disney+ that this is the last of their films that I watched. It sums up the mediocrity of this once innovative source of vibrant and creative animation - and presents us with a derivative version of a film that Jerry Lewis might have made in the 1960s if he'd owned "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" - and no, "Flubber" isn't even a dolphin! It all relies on the rather annoying performance of Robin Williams in the role of the madcap scientist "Prof. Brainard" who is determined to save his college from closure by coming up with a miracle invention. His woes don't just stop there, though. His fiancée "Sara" (Marcia Gay Harden) might just be seeing another man! Anyway, what he does manage to create is the eponymous, extremely independently elastic, green gunge that can be everything from load bearing to ultra-stretchy. Needless to say, this attracts the attention of rivals and so he must now focus on a two pronged offensive to protect his sludge and keep his gal. There's only so much the talented Williams can do here before the whole thing just sinks into it's own green goo. The script is borderline puerile and even a flying car can't really rescue this from a rather disappointing predictability. At least it's short and sweet, but really hasn't an original bone in it's flexi-body!

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