Disney's remake of 1961's The Absent-Minded Professor is a graceless, lifeless, slapstick jamboree. The original movie, which was about an academic who invents flying rubber, was nominated for an Academy award for its sfx. But here, the effects - - namely a green, bouncing, morphing jelly - - are repetitive, lacking all charm and originality. Instead of breathtaking, they're merely breathless. Robin Williams, usually a special effect all of his own, is helpless, putting his shy smile to overuse. Only Weebo, a flying gizmo that expresses itself via old film clips, supplies some kind of passing interest. However, kids, who tend not to develop a refined sense of taste until their early teens, may love it.
