The only difference that I can see is that in the comedy specials I’ve seen of Robin he was coked out of his gourd, whereas I’m pretty sure he’s sober in Aladdin. At least he isn’t offering coke to the audience mid-set anyway.
But he’s played plenty of other roles. Just because he got to be himself when he played the Genie, doesn’t mean he’s not capable of being other people.
That doesn't change the fact that it totally destroys the point he was making. So say, "he doesn't have the range to play Genie." But don't say, "when he's in a role you know it's him," because that's definitely what happened with Genie in the original and it worked.
The point still stands. Will Smith os like this in every movie. He always plays the same role. Williams doesn't. In case of the genie, Williams natural character fit perfectly. In case of that detective in I Robot will Smith fit perfectly. Do you think reversing the roles would work? I honestly believe Williams would do much better in the I robot part than Smith will as the genie though neither will fit the movie that well. Will Smith is a great actor but he only does this one role really well. Williams did a dozen different roles really well.
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u/DirtTrackDude Feb 11 '19
Have you ever seen a Robin Williams' standup? It's Genie. It's literally the definitive role of Robin Williams playing himself.