The World According to Garp

An American film that tells a whole life. Jenny Fields is a nurse. She does not want to marry and does want a child; she conceives by a brain-damaged soldier at the hospital and feels no need to explain it to anyone. Her son Garp grows up at a school where she is the nurse. Garp wants to be a writer, wrestles and meets Helen. Jenny writes a book too. It tells her own life, sells unexpectedly well, and she becomes the centre of a movement; her house turns into a refuge. Garp marries, has children and his books are published. Where the film goes is those two lives running side by side: one becomes a public figure, the other tries to protect his private life. There is an accident, and after it the narrative changes entirely. The film does not build it as a turning point; life goes on, and that has the heavier effect. Among the other characters is Roberta, a former footballer who stays at Jenny's house and is the warmest figure in the narrative. The source is John Irving's novel. Robin Williams plays Garp, Glenn Close plays Jenny, John Lithgow plays Roberta and Mary Beth Hurt plays Helen. It is Close's first film. George Roy Hill directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes long novel adaptations and drama in an odd register. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a consistent genre; the film keeps crossing between comedy and tragedy and some viewers will find it scattered.