5 Favorite Robin Williams Performances

Robin Williams was a great talent in not just the Hollywood industry but in the canon of true comedians. He was one of the very few who can just make me laugh louder and harder than ever by showcasing us his talent. Sadly, he died at the age of 63. There will never be another comedian like him and never will and many fans including myself are devastated by his loss. In his body of work, it was truly difficult to find just 5 great performances that defined him as a true comedian and a true artist as an actor both comedically and dramatically. Here are my 5 favorite performances from Mr. Williams:

Dead Poets Society (1989)

This is one of my favorite movies and one of my favorite performances even though the young actors, including Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke, took more screen time than him. This is one of the first roles that showed his dramatic range and showcased not just his comic talents, but also his vulnerable state witnessed in one scene after a tragic event. It is a truly wonderful performance about a man who pushed his students with creativity and inspiration in his own ways.

Good Will Hunting (1997)

This is the role that finally got him the Oscar. Williams played a psychologist who is helping Will (Matt Damon) trying to get his act together while at the same time, he is tormented by his wife's death. It is a pitch-perfect performance that is as subtle as any other performance in his filmography. The scene where he sits with Damon's character and delivers his monologue about how Will hurt him by making a comment about his wife and painting and persuades him to cooperate by simply saying his honest statements. What a hell of a movie and a hell of a performance.

Good Morning Vietnam (1987)

GOOD MOOOOORNING VIETNAM!

This is the perfect fit matching his talents and improvisations to a character as a radio DJ who entertains the troops during the stressful Vietnam War. However, his superiors are annoyed by his irreverent behavior. But, the scenes in the radio DJ station displays his confidence and comfortability to entertain the soldiers, however, outside is a display of drama and grief for all the soldiers fighting in combat and dying. There are frames of him showing charm and remorse in different scenes by centering his character as everybody's point of view in the Armed Forces of how they are feeling in Vietnam.

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

It is got to be one of the funniest performances in his filmography display all of Robin Williams' ammunition as an actor and a comedian by voicing his own British accent and wearing women's clothing and fragrance to get closer to his kids after a fight with his wife and take it to the court for a custody hearing. There are some scenes in this movie that are comically masterful and tonally brilliant that we believed Mrs. Doubtfire as another character. It is no Tootsie, but it is still Mrs. Doubtfire, another movie anchoring another actor's brilliance on-screen.

Aladdin (1992)

Of course, I have to save my favorite performance for last and it's an animated classic character: The Genie. You know I cannot forget about this extraordinary performance by voicing all of his talents into the Disney production. He must have annoyed the filmmakers with so much insight into this character that he had many ideas to make the movie run better. Heck, without this character, it would have been an OK movie. I want to see a featurette of how he processed his character because all of his imitations and improvisations are just displayed beautifully with interactions with Aladdin, the rug, Abu, Jafar, and even himself.

I can also think of other performances such as Insomnia, One Hour Photo, and Moscow on the Hudson that are just great. But, one thing is for sure, the world is less funnier and less fun without Robin Williams. He will be dearly missed. And, I'll finish this post with three clips of his work:

WARNING: There is brief strong language in this clip.