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The World According to Garp

The World According to Garp

Drama · Comedy · 1982

A struggling young writer finds his life and work dominated by his unfaithful wife and his radical feminist mother, whose best-selling manifesto turns her into a cultural icon.

Movie details

The World According to Garp

“Robin Williams is Garp. He's got a funny way of looking at life.”

1982 Drama · Comedy 2h 16m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

A struggling young writer finds his life and work dominated by his unfaithful wife and his radical feminist mother, whose best-selling manifesto turns her into a cultural icon.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The World According to Garp?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

George Roy Hill

Written by

Steve Tesich

Robin Williams

Robin Williams

T.S. Garp

Mary Beth Hurt

Mary Beth Hurt

Helen Holm

Glenn Close

Glenn Close

Jenny Fields

John Lithgow

John Lithgow

Roberta Muldoon

Hume Cronyn

Hume Cronyn

Mr. Fields

Jessica Tandy

Jessica Tandy

Mrs. Fields

Swoosie Kurtz

Swoosie Kurtz

The Hooker

Court is in session

Put The World According to Garp on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.