Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Stars: Robin Williams, Mila Kunis, Peter Dinklage, Melissa Leo, Hamish Linklater
Henry Altmann (Williams) is given 90 minutes to live by his doctor (Mila Kunis). In his last hour and a half he tries to repair the broken ties with his family, and gains a new perspective on life.
Yeah, this is a terribly predictable film. All the plot points aren’t original and once you hear the premise you can paint the film in your mind. It doesn’t really have anything new to say and even though it’s billed as a comedy there’s not much humor here. The premise is painful as well because I don’t know anyone that’s just going to accept a diagnosis of 90 minutes to live without some sort of proof. There’s also a clumsy device of narration by Williams and Kunis which interrupts the film, and Kunis’ character is given enough depth to be a co-lead.
It’s also quite morbid as well given what happened with Williams shortly after this film, and people who are sensitive to his death may wish to avoid this completely because of the emotions it brings out.
I don’t think it has much merit and it’s one of those films that isn’t horrible to watch but it doesn’t offer anything outside of the initial concept, so it ends up being an empty experience. Perhaps if it was longer and had more nuanced work on the characters it could be better, but as it is there are plenty of better films to watch. Taking this film’s moral to heart, there are better things to do with 90 minutes than watch The Angriest Man in Brooklyn.
