Flubber Review

In 1961, Fred MacMurray`s career got a boost when he played the title character in the hugely successful Disney film, The Absent-Minded Professor - his invention of flying rubber, or flubber, allowed for some good special effects and hilarious sequences. In this hi-tech remake, which opens nationally tomorrow, Robin Williams is Philip Brainard, the impossibly forgetful prof whose invention helps his college team win a basketball match and defeat the corrupt villain, Raymond Barry, who`s out to steal the formula...Flubber borrows a few elements from other successful family films - a pair of dim-witted, accident-prone thugs from the Home Alone movies, plus a cute, movie-literate floating computer called Weebo, which acts a bit like E.T.. Marcia Gay Harden doesn`t have a lot to do as Brainard`s long-suffering fiance. The film is dominated by Williams` brand of scatty comedy and by the formidable special effects, which include the flying car which was the hit of the earlier version. Flubber should keep the youngsters entertained over the holidays.