I am never one for the what if an average person meets a celebrity, genre. This one begins very hokey. This is one of the craziest films I can recall, in fact, from a tonal standpoint, it is going between a children's movie, to a character piece, to a period piece, and this ridiculous figure at center.
There is zero resistance to him taking in this family, and not much reflection about it. He might as well be Santa Claus really.
Robards I am not used to him in 'character' like this, behind make-up. It is kind of amazing. He is always an actor of larger than life magic, so seeing him like this is almost too big for the screen.
At the same time it feels he is stranded on screen. Like inviting an impersonator to a party. He is giving it his all, but you sense him lost, wanting to turn to us going, now what?
It is so thankless for an actor, almost exploitative, in the way of celebrity itself. He is a bottomless well of charisma and has to entertain everyone he comes across, you see how exhausting it would be.
If you can get through the silliness of the first half, it settles and director Daniel Petrie's mastery settles in, the way he captures the world, the way the script unfolds, the performances finally have room to settle. It does become the pleasant, beautiful little film it strived to be. The movie was not easy to find, so I am glad I saw it. It is not forgettable, that is for sure.
