Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Mork & Mindy

My wife and I attended the same High School as Chris and my wife, Karen H. appeared in Man of La Mancha with Chris. We knew he was destined for great things then, and the performance we saw last night proved that right. We were told of his role minutes before the movie aired and was very glad that we got the call. Chris did a fantastic job as Robin, we were both very impressed. Daniel Roebuck was excellent as Gary Marshall. I understand that with every "unauthorized" biopic there is always some artistic license taken, I always watch these movies with some apprehension. But thanks to the terrific performances by the cast, it was more entertainment, than educational.

Great job Chris! Karen H. East York Collegiatge and myself are all proud of you.

For those fans of the original "Mork & Mindy" show in the 70's, this was a believable look into the early career of Robin Williams, now widely regarded as a comic genius and respected actor. The fact that it was "unauthorized" is probably meant to convey that no punches were pulled, and the dirty laundry gets aired. This was the case here as well. The producers took pains to recreate the characters from the show both physically with regard to personality. They go out of their way to put forth the fact that Williams almost became typecast for his Mork role, and the tedium and frustration that the part produced for him. After all, his fans knew he was something special when they saw him for 5 minutes on "Happy Days". His manic, rapid fire improvisational brilliance continues to amaze to this day, and yet, through this TV movie, we see how close he may have come to losing it all in the early 80's. My only qualm is that I have been unable to locate the credit for the actor who played John Belushi.

Diamontopolous and Roebuck had the voices and mannerisms of their characters dead on. It was either great casting or great performances.

The rest of the show was pretty average for behind-the-scenes-of-a-TV-show kind of stuff. But it wasn't camped up like a couple of them have been. Ironically, they made references to Gilligans' Island within the show, but this movie felt a lot like that behind the scenes movie.

Surprisingly, it was interesting most of the time. There was a decent mixture of things commonly recognized and a few things not known so readily.

Much like Robin Williams being the main headliner for Mork and Mindy, Chris Diamantopoulos is amazing as a young / out of control Robin Williams in this decent made for television movie. Although this is a movie dealing with cocaine, NBC manages to only show the drug for about 10 seconds in this 90 minute movie. Daniel Roebuck is OK as Gary Marshall. Since his portrayal of Jay Leno in HBO's Late Shift, it's hard to see him in any other role. Although a strong character actor like Chris Diamantopoulos, he manages to give a good enough performance. Even though the Gary Marshall story is woven into the Robin Williams story, it is Robin's story that keeps the audience watching. Some interesting moments throughout the movie, you are unable to turn the television off until the end credits.

I have to agree with the first reviewer, the actor who played Robin Williams was amazing. If I wasn't looking at the screen, I would have sworn it was really him talking. But his performance was more than just an imitation of Robin Williams; he also showed a lot of the same skills that Robin Williams has. Skills like the ability to mimic others and the ability to switch characters practically mid-breath. I can't imagine that many people could capture so much of his character and personality. That performance alone made it a worthwhile watch.

The actors chosen to play other actors were good choices as well, they looked enough like the originals that it was easy to see who they were supposed to be.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.