For adventurous tastes: John Irving's book becomes big, intentionally absurd, thought-provoking, violent comedy-drama about a writer who survived a highly unconventional upbringing, his odyssey through life fraught with comic calamities and bleak tragedy. Calling this movie 'a mixed bag' is an understatement; it careens wide-eyed through a tempest of different emotions and tones, but the fundamental weakness is that we never get close to these people. Robin Williams gives a solid lead performance (one of his first critically-acclaimed 'grown up' roles that took many by surprise), and Glenn Close has an amazing presence as mother Jenny (it's a one-note role without much shading, though Close almost overcomes that). Still, the filmmakers observe these characters almost clinically, and so they remain aloof from us. John Lithgow's performance as a transsexual is probably the warmest, and Amanda Plummer has amazing intensity in just one small scene. The queasy tendency to lump together sexual matters and bloodshed is more disturbing than darkly comic, and the finale is fancifully pointless--as if the whole film were a shaggy-dog story. ** from ****

Never read the book but watched this movie in the '80-s in a cinema. This was one of the movies in those days everyone went to see. Great characters and a wonderful storyline. This is one of the pictures only Americans can make (like Big Fish): a sort of modern fairytale with lots of unusual people but goodhearted and rich in sub plots. Watched it again on TV ages ago and never saw it again. Which is a true shame. Dear folks at Warner Bros: please re-release this gem on BD and DVD! Give it the credits it deserves. Take your time for some restoration, put some extra's on it (interviews with director and cast, a look back, etcetera) but give this movie back to the fans. We're waiting for it too long. Thanks!

I remember watching 'Garp' sometime in the late 80s or early 90s, and thinking it was okay. The scene with the car crash definitely made an impression on me at the time, it's the only part of the film I remembered.

I decided to watch it again recently, and honestly, I don't really get why it has all the accolades.

The movie doesn't have any kind of story arc, except that Garp gets older, has a family, has some bad things happen, the end. There isn't any full circle symbolism, except maybe the very ending when he's ambulanced off in a helicopter, which is odd - you'd think that they could have just sent a regular road ambulance, but I guess that's for the effect of the finale.

Ultimately, this is a movie about nothing. It feels very disjointed and every scene seems to have a punchline, or gag, to keep in line with the absurdity of the situations. It's like watching a series of skits in a comedy variety show, except every skit has the same characters.

And there are so many dark moments, that really make this movie uneven in tone. Is it a black comedy, a satire, a commentary on anything?! I didn't see it. The shooting scenes, if they were in the book, just feel shoehorned in for shock effect. I guess we are supposed to have that 'ah ha!' moment when the shooter at the end is the same girl who sicked the dog on Garp when he was a little boy. But why? What is her motivation, and why is she acting like she's Garp's nemesis. No context in her character whatsoever.

John Lithgow seems like the only believable character in the movie, even if he is playing a transvestite.

Garp's outrage over the driver of that pickup truck was odd. Firstly, why didn't he call the cops on the guy? He was 'terrorizing' the neighborhood, surely a well-place squad car could have ended that. Secondly, if Garp is so angry about people driving recklessly in the neighborhood, why does he engage in the same behavior when he shuts off the engine and lets the car coast (at high speed mind you), down that same residential street. You see how that reckless behavior ended up costing him.

Overall, the movie is a real downer. You don't feel like you've learned anything by the end. None of the characters earn any empathy, so you really don't care about what happens to them. It's one of those movies you just keep watching because you're hoping something is going to happen to give it meaning, and it never does.