Robin Williams has the most creative and energized comic mind to which I've ever been exposed.

Why, then, does he make so many disappointing, flawed or God-awful (choose your own adjective) movies? The failure of "License to Wed" cannot be laid at Williams' door only. There's enough comic talent involved in the film that one could shout, "What the heck were you thinking?" in several directions and be heard by someone who should have known better.

The film was directed by Ken Kwapis, who has had his hand in some funny, funny TV shows, including "The Office," "The Bernie Mac Show" and "Malcolm in the Middle." And playing off Williams is John Krasinski, who plays off Steve Carell so well in the office.

And then there are the film's four writers, who, at least, display some skill at creating comic bits.

Krasinski plays Ben, an easy-going young man who finds his way to marrying Sadie (Mandy Moore) blocked by her family's choice of ministers. Williams is Rev. Frank, whose required course of premarital counseling includes electronic eavesdropping, incendiary role-playing and simulated parenthood with scatalogically correct twin baby robots.

What larks! To be sure, there are more than few funny bits here, along with a few that fall flatter than new-home sales in Iraq.

I have no doubt Williams could read the telephone book and render most of us breathless with laughter.

But "License to Wed" isn't a good movie, because it insults our intelligence. As a series of gags, it may suffice, but as a coherent and comically integrated film, it won't.

And I found the movie, one scene in particular, monumentally offensive.

The aforementioned sequence in which Krasinski tries to deal with the robotic babies that are always crying and doing disgusting things ends with his shaking one twin until its head pops off. (I'm not giving anything away that isn't in the movie's trailers.) The people who made "License to Wed" are so hard up for laughs that they turn Shaken Baby Syndrome into a joke.

You can't go much lower than that.

Local veteran journalist Jim Gordon reviews movies for The Times. The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at jamgordo@iun.edu.

onScreen

"License to Wed"

Grade: D-

Director: Ken Kwapis

Starring: Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, John Krasinski

Rated: PG-13