Last Updated on September 6, 2024
During his lifetime, Robin Williams was undoubtedly one of the most beloved actors of his generation. Today, his movies remain popular thanks to his passionate immersion in every role. Known for his comedic flair, Williams also aced dramatic roles to a tee. If you want to relax after a hard day, there is no better solution than losing yourself in one of his top movies!
Good Will Hunting (1997)
IMDB Rating: 8.3
At MIT, a professor decides to challenge his students and writes a difficult math problem on a blackboard. When someone anonymously solves the equation one night, he is surprised to discover that the genius is the 20-year-old janitor, a man called Will Hunting.
When Will gets into trouble with the law, the professor manages to keep him out of jail by offering to tutor him and make sure that he also receives psychotherapy sessions. While Will is a difficult student to handle at best and an even more challenging patient, it is Dr Sean Maguire (played by Robin Williams) who slowly breaks down Will’s barriers.
Hook (1991)
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
In this classic and beloved children’s story, Peter Pan has grown up and forgotten all about his magical past and ability to fly. Indeed, he thinks he is a normal husband and father. But when Captain hook kidnaps his two children, the middle-aged Peter now has to go back to Neverland and re-discover the magic that can give him flight and the power to manifest things.
Julia Roberts plays Tinkerbell, Peter’s right-hand fairy, who literally drags him back to Neverland and guides him as he tries to regain his memories and life as the legendary Peter Pan. Robin Williams himself plays the unforgettable grown-up version of Peter Pan.
Aladdin (1992)
IMDB Rating: 8.0/10
When street urchin Aladdin frees a genie from a lamp, he sees his chance to marry the beautiful princess Jasmine. He uses his first wish to look like a prince but he soon faces a deadly rival. Jafar, the Royal Vizier, plans to marry Jasmine so that he can become the new Sultan. Aladdin, Jasmine, and the genie embark on a wild adventure to beat the powerful sorcerer.
Robin Williams provides the voice for the now-iconic blue genie who grants Aladdin his three wishes.
Jumanji (1995)
IMDB Rating: 7.0/10
This first instalment of the still-popular Jumanji franchise tells the story of a bullied boy called Alan who discovers a strange board game. He invites his friend Sarah to play with him and they soon discover that the game has odd abilities. But then Alan is sucked into the game and vanishes, everyone assumes that he had run away.
Years later, a brother and sister move into Alan’s house and find the Jumanji box. They also start to play and accidentally release Alan from the game, now a forty-something man. To finish the game and get rid of all the dangers that Jumanji keeps releasing into the real world, they have to find Sarah and complete the game.
Night At The Museum (2006)
IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
When Larry Daley takes a job at a museum, he expects nothing but dreary night shifts. Taking over from three elderly security guards who are retiring, they mystify Larry with several cryptic references as they show him around the museum and they also leave him as a strange manual that he must use when things go wrong.
As Larry soon discovers to his surprise, when night falls everything in the museum comes to life. From the giant T-Rex skeleton to the barbaric Hun hordes, the displays believe that they are the real thing – and keeping them from destroying the museum or escaping is not easy.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)
IMDB Rating: 6.0/10
In this sequel, three years have gone by and Larry is no longer a guard at the museum. One day, he stops by the museum only to be told that most of the exhibits are going to be stored in the Smithsonian’s archives because they are being replaced by holograms. This is worrying to Larry because the ancient tablet that animates them will stay behind meaning that his friends will lose the ability to enjoy the gift of life at night.
But when the tablet accidentally travels with the exhibits to the Smithsonian, chaos erupts at the world’s biggest museum. Everything comes to life and Larry has to deal with Sesame Street characters, Darth Vader, historical figures and an evil Egyptian King who wants to conquer the world.
What Dreams May Come (1998)
IMDB Rating: 7.0/10
This love story has visual beauty, darkness and a touch of fantasy that will please fans of alternate worlds. The latter in this case is Heaven and Hell, done in a way that is both intriguing and frightening. The story follows the love shared by Annie and Chris, a married couple who suffer the tragic loss of their two children in a car accident.
Only having each other, Annie is devastated when Chris is killed several years later – also in a car accident. While Chris enjoys the stunning scenery of Heaven where anything is possible and he is even reunited with his children, Annie’s grief leads her to suicide and Hell. When Chris learns of this tragic turn he embarks on a mission that nobody from Heaven had ever successfully done and that is to rescue someone from Hell.
One Hour Photo (2002)
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
In this psychological thriller, Robin Williams plays Seymour “Sy” Parrish, a one-hour photo technician at a shopping centre. Over the years, he develops many photos for the Yorkin family and learns more about them through their photos. Having no family of his own and no social life, Sy becomes obsessed with the Yorkins to the point where he secretly copies their photos and enshrines them at his home.
But Sy is on a slippery slope. After the extra printing costs are discovered, he is fired from his job and at the same time, he also discovers that the Yorkin father is having an affair. He uses photos to spiral further; placing the affair’s photographic evidence in a package for the wife while also taking his own photos of their children to threaten the husband.
The Birdcage (1996)
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
Armand and Albert are an openly gay couple who run the Birdcage, a drag music club located below their residence. When Armand’s son arrives and informs them that he is planning on getting married, there is a problem. The girl’s parents are ultra-conservative and the father is Senator Kevin Keeley who co-founded the Coalition for Moral Order.
When the Keeley family announces that they are going to visit their daughter’s upcoming in-laws, chaos ensues. At the behest of his son, Armand decides to pose as a straight man and tries to train his flamboyant partner to also act straight – with hilarious consequences.
Despite the general theme of hiding ones sexuality to fit in, the movie is also a heartwarming story of a family who learns that acceptance, not pretence, is the best policy.
Awakenings (1990)
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
Based on a memoir of the same name, the story follows Dr Malcolm Sayer, who, in 1969, discovered that the drug L-Dopa had beneficial results for catatonic patients. Between 1917 and 1928, a sleeping sickness epidemic left many people in a debilitating state of unresponsiveness. To many survivors of the disease, Sayer was their caregiver at the local Bronx hospital.
Dedicated to breaking down the walls of their catatonic state, Sayer tries everything he can. One day, he visits a medical conference and learns that L-Dopa gives great results with Parkinson’s patience and he tries the drug on one of his own charges. When the latter completely breaks out of his coma-like state, Sayer believes that he has found the cure – but things are not that simple.
Insomnia (2002)
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
When a young girl is found murdered, the paths of two men cross. One is Detective Will Dormer and the other is Walter Finch, a crime writer and someone the girl was a fan of. When Dormer accidentally kills his partner, he tries to frame Finch as the killer of both victims. But the writer is more wily than the detective has ever thought.
In this psychological thriller, the two men try to cover up their crimes while also attempting to bring each other down. It is one of the rare movies where you will see Robin Williams play a chilling villain!
Mrs Doubtfire (1993)
IMDB Rating: 7.0/10
Daniel is a dedicated father but when it comes to his marriage, he is a bit of a slacker. After he loses his voice-acting job because of a disagreement at work and he messes up their son’s birthday, his wife Miranda files for divorce. She gets full custody and Daniel is given three months to get a steady job and residence before he can see his children.
When Daniel learns that Miranda is looking for a housekeeper, he assumes the identity of an older British nanny and gets the job. As Mrs Doubtfire, he manages to do what he failed at before and that is to bring Miranda closer to her children and make the family happier.
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
This movie is loosely based on the real Airman Second Class Adrian Cronauer who, in the 1960s, arrived in Saigon as a DJ for the American soldiers. The radio station adheres to strict music and news policies, which relies on heavy censorship and dull tunes. But Cronauer’s flair for irreverent humor and rock and roll quickly makes him a hit with the troops.
But he is not everybody’s favourite. His interest in a Vietnamese girl, the friendship with her brother, and the jealousy of the other DJs all combine to make Cronauer’s time in Vietnam more miserable by the minute.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
Mr John Keating is the new English teacher at the all-boys prep school of Welton Academy. His methods of teaching poetry are as passionate as they are unorthodox, believing that to truly understand poems one must live life on your own terms. As he starts to instil these values into his students, it attracts the ire of the traditional faculty.
When one of his students discover that Keating is an old student of Welton and he once belonged to the unsanctioned Dead Poets Society, he revives the organization for his classmates. But their secret meetings and new bold attitudes have tragic consequences.
The World According to Garp (1982)
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
Garp is raised by a feminist mother who becomes a successful author after she publishes a book about human sexuality. A popular fiction author himself, Garp marries his childhood sweetheart and he fathers two children. But when he learns of an extremist feminist group at his mother’s house who mutilates themselves and that his wife is having an affair, Garp’s life slowly falls apart.
