The World According to Garp (1982) - Ranking Every Robin Williams Movie
As part of Good Morning Robin, I’m revisiting every Robin Williams movie in theatrical-release order, not just to rank them, but to sit with them, re-evaluate them, and see how his career evolves film by film. This entry covers just the second stop on that journey, and already things get heavy.
The World According to Garp (1982)
The World According to Garp follows the life of T.S. Garp (Robin Williams), an aspiring writer raised by his fiercely independent mother, Jenny Fields, whose unconventional choices turn her into an unlikely feminist icon. As Garp grows up, marries, and starts a family, the film tracks his personal and professional struggles through a series of tragic, absurd, and often shocking events that shape how he sees the world.
Blending dark comedy with drama, Garp explores sexuality, feminism, parenthood, and the sheer randomness of life. Showing how love and fear constantly coexist in a world that refuses to slow down or make sense.
The film is based on John Irving’s bestselling novel, and I know the title alone probably sounds like homework. But if you’re a Robin Williams fan and you’ve never seen this movie, I genuinely think you’re missing something special.
One of the first things you notice is how book-like the movie feels. It doesn’t follow a clean three-act structure. Instead, it drifts through the major events of Garp’s life, moving from moment to moment the way memory does rather than the way movies usually do.
There’s a quiet melancholy running through the entire film. Big emotional moments happen suddenly, sometimes brutally, and often without warning. You’re never fully comfortable watching it and that unease feels intentional. Life doesn’t give you time to prepare, and neither does Garp.
Glenn Close is phenomenal as Jenny Fields, grounding a potentially cartoonish character with conviction and emotional clarity. John Lithgow delivers an especially bold performance as Roberta Muldoon, a transgender woman portrayed with warmth, dignity, humor, and pain. For 1982, this portrayal is genuinely remarkable. At a time when men in dresses were usually the punchline, Roberta is treated as a full human being, exploring themes of gender, identity, and non-conformity without cruelty or mockery.
One of the film’s greatest strengths is that no character is purely good or purely bad. Everyone claims values they believe in, and everyone contradicts them. People hurt each other, often without meaning to. The movie never tells you what’s right or wrong, it just presents life as it is.
Parenthood is another major thread. You see how Garp’s unconventional upbringing shapes the way he raises his own children. He loves them deeply, but love doesn’t make him wise or careful. His mistakes, impulses, and desire to protect what he can’t control ultimately lead him toward tragedy in ways he never fully understands.
Underlying everything is the film’s central theme: death. It’s the quiet dread beneath every scene. The recurring idea of the “undertow”, an unseen force that can pull you under without warning, becomes the movie’s most haunting metaphor. One of Garp’s sons mishears it as “the Under-Toad,” turning it into a family joke, but the meaning remains the same. Danger is always there, even when you don’t understand it.
Flying, or the sensation of flying, also recurs throughout the film. It symbolizes freedom, imagination, and aspiration, but it’s often tied to loss and mortality. Reaching for life can bring you closer to its end. That duality sits at the heart of The World According to Garp.
Honestly, I could talk about this movie for hours, and I’ve only seen it once. It’s dense, emotional, and packed with ideas. If you’re a Garp expert and think I’ve missed something — or completely misread it — I’d genuinely love to hear your take in the comments.
If the movie has a flaw, it’s one common to many book adaptations: it may simply be too big for its runtime. At over two hours, it still feels like it’s rushing from event to event without enough space to fully sit in each moment. You can sense how naturally this story lives on the page, even as the film does an admirable job translating it.
Film Ranking
At this point in the series, The World According to Garp easily takes the #1 spot in my personal rankings.
The World According to Garp
Popeye
Robin Williams delivers a performance that’s grounded, restrained, and deeply human. There’s vulnerability here that feels miles away from the manic energy he was already famous for and somehow, this was only his second starring role.
Robin Williams Performance Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
The World According to Garp is fantastic, challenging, and emotionally exhausting in the best way. If you consider yourself a real Robin Williams fan, this one is essential viewing.
In the full Good Morning Robin video series, I place Garp in conversation with the rest of his career — comparing performances, tracking themes, and seeing how early films like this set the stage for everything that followed. If this review resonated with you, the video dives even deeper.
Next up on the journey: things get weirder, darker, and somehow even more interesting.
