Flubber

1997 Comedy

Although "flub" is defined as "to make a mess of," the word "flubber" is a contraction from "flying rubber." In this remake of the 1961 comedy-fantasy The Absent Minded Professor, Robin Williams takes on the role created by Fred MacMurray and later executed by Harry Anderson on television, while the 1961 film's Flubber with anti-gravity properties has now been digitally reincarnated as a translucent green, pulsating, bouncing blob that loves to dance the mambo. Absent-minded college professor Philip Brainard (Williams), employed at a near-bankrupt university, creates the formula for Flubber, yet he can't remember to show up for his own wedding to university-President Sara Jean Reynolds (Marcia Gay Harden). His rival, Wilson Croft (Christopher McDonald), plots to steal Sara and the Flubber from Brainard. Rich, corrupt businessman Chester Hoenicker (Raymond Barry) tries to force Brainard to pass his failing son Bennett (Wil Wheaton), but he soon takes an interest in Flubber after hearing about it from his flunkies (Clancy Brown, Ted Levine). After using Flubber to fly over clouds in his 1963 T-Bird, Brainard realizes Flubber can also improve the performance of the school's pathetic basketball team. Jodi Benson is the voice of Weebo, Brainard's talking, flying household robot, with a video display of Disney clips at odd moments. Many gags are embellishments from the 1961 film, with John Hughes (Home Alone) rewriting the original Bill Walsh screenplay (based on Samuel Taylor's short story, "A Situation of Gravity"). Though Walsh died in 1975, he received posthumous credit for this script. Filming began October 8,1996 in San Francisco. more..

Director: Les Mayfield

Starring: Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher McDonald, Raymond Barry, Clancy Brown

Reviews

  • Flubber, the substance, has more personality than many Hollywood actors. And if Flubber, the movie, isn't quite a slam dunk, at least it's a relatively bouncy way to spend an hour and a half.

    - The Washington Post

    19 January 2013

  • As computer-generated special effects have grown more advanced, they threaten to overwhelm such minor matters as story, character, and emotion. This, however, is not a problem in Flubber (Walt Disney), an agreeably unhinged slapstick jamboree.

    Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly

    19 January 2013

  • Though Mr. Williams sometimes seems on the verge of "Aladdin"-caliber improvisation with the ever-morphing green flubber, the film bogs him down with a fiancee (Marcia Gay Harden) hellbent on making him remember a wedding date, and with the full Hughes retinue of thugs and bullies.

    Elvis Mitchell - The New York Times

    19 January 2013

  • Director Les Mayfield ("Miracle on 34th Street") has his moments, of course, but what ultimately was needed in the case of Flubber was a movie with more bounce and less talk.

    John Anderson - Los Angeles Times

    19 January 2013

  • Writer/producer John "Home Alone" Hughes, the Marquis de Sade of kidcom, and director Les Mayfield manage to squeeze the very bounce out of what should have been a can't-miss update.

    Susan Wloszczyna - USA Today

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Danny Elfman

    BMI Film & TV Awards (1998)

  • Favorite Actor/Actress - Family

    Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (1998)

  • Bogey Awards, Germany (1998)

  • Favorite Movie Actor

    Kids' Choice Awards (1998)