From John Irving's sprawling novel comes a film that brilliantly encapsulates a whole life. Known as a western director, Hill gets the performance of his then-life out of comic foil Williams, until then most famous for playing Mork from Ork.

But Williams is supported by a roll call of great talent that makes mincemeat out of the lofty themes, heartbreak and laughs that come to epitomise Garp's life.

T.S. (Williams) wants to be a writer, but his wife and family and his soft-spoken, unwittingly feminist mother (Close) make sure life is anything but dull. Aside from being the target of a feminist uprising, he faces infidelity, attracts a string of unsettled women throughout his life and befriends a most unlikely confidante in post-operative transsexual Roberta (Lithgow).

I'm not old enough to remember if there were Oscars all round, but there should have been. You'll see few movies that are such emotional roller coasters.