Despite a juicy role as Dwight D. Eisenhower in Lee Daniels’ The Butler last summer, Robin Williams has been largely absent from the spotlight for a few years. That’s all about to change though with his new film Boulevard hitting Tribeca this month and the first trailer for another Williams project, The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, arriving on the web today.
Williams stars as Henry Altmann, the titular character, who is wrongfully told by a doctor (Mila Kunis) that he’s managed to frustrate through constant yelling and needling that he has a brain aneurysm that will kill him within an hour and a half. Shocked out of the bitterness that has consumed him for much of his adult life, Henry begins a race against time through New York City to make amends with all the loved ones he has driven away, including his brother, wife and estranged son.
The trailer, which you can check out below, doesn’t give me high hopes for The Angriest Man in Brooklyn; in my mind, Williams yelling at people might be good for a one-time gag but, spread out over a feature-length film, sounds absolutely excruciating. The film does have a terrific cast, including Peter Dinklage, Hamish Linklater, Melissa Leo, James Earl Jones and Sutton Foster, so perhaps director Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams) will be able to coax strong performances out of his actors that will be capable of overcoming what looks like an extremely weak, generic story.
Unfortunately, I didn’t laugh once during the preview, and the fact that, even with its star-studded cast, the film is angling for a simultaneous VOD and theatrical release, also doesn’t bode well for its quality. Hopefully Boulevard will fare better than this flick, which honestly looks like a real turkey.
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn arrives in theaters and on demand on May 23rd.
