On the surface, Absolutely Anything paints itself as a fun and slapstick comedy aimed at a family audience (it features the Monty Python cast and Robin Williams as a talking dog after all), however audiences may find themselves shocked and appalled if they take the kids and Granny along to see this new release.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CYVGN98ZLA&w=750&h=452]
The film follows a failed novelist and school teacher, Neil Clarke, as he struggles to achieve his dream life – he isn’t published, his class is wild, and he just can’t get the attention of the woman downstairs. Neil’s life takes a turn for the better however when a group of all-powerful aliens bestow upon him the power to do absolutely anything that he feels like.
So what about this sci-fi/sit-com/rom-com adventure could possibly put audiences off?
Firstly, the 12A rating is more than a little wrong – the film is rife with sex jokes, gay jokes, penis jokes, racism, sexism, and every other piece of dialogue features an unnecessary curse word. The humour is crude and objectifying and definitely not appropriate for children, the most apt piece of evidence for this is the fact that kids were leaving the screen shouting (warning: racial slur ahead) “wog”. If you want to watch this film: do not bring children.
Ignoring the “humour” of the film, what about the plotline? Well, there isn’t much of it, and what little plot there is has been squished into the last twenty minutes of the film. It attempts to integrate drama and suspense, but the general lack of quality to the film itself only means that the plotline is flaky, flawed and rushed. The characters and their characterisation in the film are similarly lacking in quality, and audiences will most likely find themselves wanting to beat the protagonist rather than sympathise with him.
Viewers should also be warned that the film takes a very flippant attitude towards topics such as harassment, stalking and manipulation. Overall, the film doesn’t live up to the star-studded cast or the memory of the late Robin Williams, but it would probably be the ideal film for fans of Adam Sandler.
Words by Charlie Ginger Jones