By Geno McGahee
There are a lot of strange family movies and GOOBY, a 2009 film, is another that can be added to the list. Immediately when I watched this, I started to think of HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS and there are some similarities here and there. The biggest thing in common is a furry fuck moving in with a family.
Willy (Matthew Knight) is a kid that is bullied and also believes that two-headed aliens are out there and are ready to kill him, but he feels safe in his home. Unfortunately, his mother informs him that they are moving and now he’s really panicking. He is in a new school, dealing with bullies, and his dad is MIA as he deals with his job. Willy feels alone, but that all changes when he meets Gooby (Robbie Coltrane). Once his teddy bear, Gooby is now a huge furry dude that is there to try to help and fix Willy’s life.
One of the immediate highlights of the film is Eugene Levy as Mr. Nerdlinger, Willy’s teacher. Levy is hilarious as always as he plays the teacher that desperately wants to be famous and he finally finds potential. He got a glimpse of Gooby and wants to take a picture of him and make money. I wondered if they chose Levy because of his role in SPLASH where he was desperate to take a picture of the mermaid to prove it existed. It seems like too much of a coincidence for it not to be at least thought of.
Despite Gooby being a creature that should not be seen, he hasn’t gotten the message. He goes grocery shopping, shows up at Willy’s dad’s job and really doesn’t see an issue with being out in public. He tends to interact with people rather than hide from them, including waving at a crane operator. The antics of Gooby are pretty amusing.
Through his friendship with Gooby, Willy starts making friends and gaining confidence, but it’s not always easy. Gooby keeps showing up everywhere and creating concern. On Halloween, Willy can finally bring Gooby into town without concern and it was some more funny moments, including a point where Gooby makes a bully piss his pants.
David (David James Elliott), Willy’s dad, begins to realize that he is missing out on his son’s childhood and decides to get more involved and that’s when he gets to meet Gooby and Gooby becomes part of the family. His job is done and he can now move on to help other children.
GOOBY is actually a fun movie. I’ve seen every other reviewer has given this movie a very bad review and I say to them: suck Gooby’s prick. This film may not be a must see when it comes to family movies, but there’s enough here for all ages to get some laughs out of this. There’s a nice balance of humor and drama. I highly recommend this one.
