Culture

Classic Film

Hook is basically a representation of my childhood; I watched it so many times I destroyed the VHS. Given my attachment to all things Peter Pan and disinclination to actually grow up, it’s probably a fair representation of my current psychological state as well. This was one of my most beloved films as a child, and I couldn’t imagine anyone other than Robin Williams playing the adult version of that most beloved character, Peter Pan. Of course, being a grown up (ugh) and a lawyer (hmmm), his name is Peter Banning and in the beginning he’s kind of an uptight ass.

Robin Williams bought a kind of magic to every personality he ever portrayed, and I don’t think I love any of his films quite like I love Hook. He embodies everything about the character Banning, from the stressed, grown-up lawyer we are presented with for the first half hour, to the man that finds who he is, and who he was, throughout the rest of the movie. Julia Roberts is a charming, heart-breaking, badass Tinkerbell and Dustin Hoffman plays, in my opinion, the best rendition of Captain Hook ever committed to film. Through the interplay of these fantastic actors and the magic they bring to the silver screen, the viewer is drawn into Neverland with them, with the Lost Boys, with the pirates of the Jolly Roger and with the mermaids of Mermaid Lagoon.

Hook is a more mature version of Peter Pan than the original Disney cartoon, though not quite so mature as Barrie’s original play. It also reveals a new theme or moral the older you are when you watch it, yet I am as enthralled by every scene now as I was when I was three or five. Watching it again this week, in the knowledge that all we have left of Robin Williams was heart breaking. However, it also made what he left to us all the more precious, because it is a rare actor that can bring the heart and the joy to characters like Peter Pan that he could. If you haven’t seen this film, you need to. It is a perfect example of the magic of Robin Williams.