GIMMICK COMEDY `FLUBBER' BOUNCES BACK NEARLY INTACT.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

``Flubber'' is a not-too-intolerable remake of Disney's gimmick comedy ``The Absent Minded Professor.'' Today's parents probably have fond, if vague memories of the Fred MacMurray original, with its bouncy sight gags and flying Model T.

Of course, our own parents probably found ``Absent'' a minor chore to sit through. That spirit is certainly preserved in this broad, John Hughes-driven update. But in the wider, louder, vulgar scheme of what passes for family entertainment these days, ``Flubber'' at least has enough quiet and charming moments to create the impression that it was made with care.

Robin Williams plays the professor, Phillip Brainard, who teaches at a small, financially strapped college and gets too tied up in his flying rubber experiments to remember his wedding. When he leaves his fiancee and boss Sara (Marcia Gay Harden) at the altar for the third time, she's driven toward the arms of a hissable rival scientist (``Veronica's Closet's'' Christopher McDonald).

No matter; Brainard synthesizes flubber, gets his car (now a classic, cherry T-bird) airborne and, with the help of the gravity-defying stuff, takes on a rich bad guy (Raymond Barry) and his two goons (Clancy Brown and Ted Levine), who were born to get conked by flubber-powered projectiles.

Two significant changes here, both mildly amusing but not worked out to their full potential (has John Hughes ever worked any comic concept for all it's worth?).

Instead of a canine sidekick, Brainard has a hovering robot/computer called Weebo. With a voice provided by ``The Little Mermaid's'' Jodi Benson and a pop-up video screen that wittily displays film and TV images to express her feelings, Weebo is in love with the distracted professor. That leads to some of the stranger erotic touches that are sprinkled throughout the film, apparently included to keep the adults in the audience awake.

The other new wrinkle here is that flubber has a personality. It's kind of a naughty, destructive kid trapped in a glob of super-energized green goo, although that doesn't explain why it stages a Busby Berkeley production number in the middle of the movie. Well, actually, it's more like a June Taylor Dancers bit, only translucent and viscous.

For mean-spirited fun, there's a neighbor kid who is repeatedly traumatized by objects flying up to his bedroom window. As the excuse for a plot gets rolling, Hughes and director Les Mayfield (who for the most part does better here than he did with the dreadful ``Miracle on 34th Street'' remake) forget that Brainard is supposed to be, well, forgetful, and turn him into a conventional comedy hero instead. And since this is a Hughes production, prepare for the ultimate flubber fart gag.

Director of photography Dean Cundey borrows a little too much imagery from his ``Back to the Future'' films, but overall he and the special effects teams do OK by the concept's visual possibilities.

Although I doubt ``Flubber'' will leave its younger viewers with pleasant memories that take decades to fade, it shouldn't cause the older ones too much immediate pain.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Flubber'' (PG; semi-nudity, cartoonish violence).

The stars: Robin Williams, Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher McDonald, Raymond Barry, Clancy Brown and Ted Levine.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Les Mayfield. Written by John Hughes and Bill Walsh, based on the movie ``The Absent Minded Professor.'' Produced by Hughes and Ricardo Mestres. Released by Walt Disney Pictures.

Running time: One hour, 32 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three Stars.

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Photo

Photo: In ``Flubber,'' among Phillip Brainard's (Robin Williams) creations is Weebo, a robot with a crush on the distracted professor.