Swiss Army Man

Starring: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Richard Gross
Directed by: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Rating: R
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Paul Dano) washes ashore on a deserted island. He befriends a dead body (Daniel Radcliffe) which helps him survive.

Review:

Tim: After watching Swiss Army Man, I read that the directors convinced Paul Dano to join the film by saying they wanted to make a movie where "the first fart makes you laugh and the last fart makes you cry." That's one of the funniest things I've ever heard and it made me want to love this movie. While I loved the idea of the film and the absurdly ambitious attempt here, the movie itself doesn't quite gel together as effectively as it needed to. I like this movie because it's totally bonkers, but I can't claim the movie itself is all that good.

That's not to say the movie is bad- Swiss Army Man is a perfectly decent comedy. The sheer insanity of the plot makes it fun, but it also makes it hard to take seriously. I will say the highlight of the movie might have been when Dano is riding Daniel Radcliffe like a jet ski, propelled by his farts through the water. Seriously, reread what writers/directors Daniel Scheinert and Dan Kwan caused me to write. That actually happens in this movie and it's perfectly crazy. Unfortunately, the absurdity of the whole thing does wear its welcome out a bit during the 1 hour, 37 minute run time (the movie feels longer, by the way). So, this is a movie I wanted to love but couldn't quite like. Still, I appreciate the attempt.

I still can't full claim I understand this movie. The basics are simple- a man of a deserted island befriends a dead body. From there, though, you never quite know what to believe. Is any of this happening? Is it all a figment of Dano's imagination? The lines between fantasy and reality blend and it's a bit confusing. You could look at this from a totally rational viewpoint and get one answer, but the movie seems to suggest there's more to the story. If there isn't, I don't know how you'd explain many of the events of the film. It's all a bit confusing and maybe it doesn't matter in the end (although it still feels like it should). I don't know, this movie really caused me to scratch my head.

The cast is good. I like Paul Dano, although I think he's better in a supporting role. He does his thing so exceptionally well, but it tends to get on your nerves when he's asked to carry a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed him here, but eventually, your patience runs out with him. I don't believe he can carry a movie- he needs to be in smaller roles- that's where his impact is greatest. Daniel Radcliffe, I give that dude immense credit for playing this role. He's a dead body who farts a lot. I mean, a lot. It's such an absurd role, he needed to be willing to embrace it in all its ridiculousness. He does that. Radcliffe and Dano are fun to watch together. They're the big reason to see this movie. It was nice seeing Mary Elizabeth Winstead, but her role is so small. It feels like she's been doing this lately- showing up in films in these small, thankless, minimally impactful roles. I don't know why she does it, but she needs to concentrate on more worthwhile roles.

While this movie has some truly hilarious moments, there's so many that miss the mark. The movie isn't consistently funny. Some of the gags are great, but others just drag on and on and aren't especially witty or memorable. There were stretches of this film where I had to fight against feeling disengaged. There's too many areas that are explored that just aren't interesting enough. The idea of the film was great but the execution was lacking. It wasn't a surprise that this was the feature film debut of Scheinert and Kwan. They both have short film and television experience, but that didn't prepare them for the intricacies of pulling off a feature that works from beginning to end. I suspect the experience here was invaluable, but that doesn't help this film. There were too many opportunities lost and pitfalls (that would have been easily avoided by an experienced director) that these two stumbled into. That takes a great idea and turns it into a flawed (but still decent) movie.

Swiss Army Man had promise and it's probably still worth seeing just due to the "What the hell are they doing now?" aspects of the story. For all its flaws, this movie is unique and puts things on the screen that we've never seen before. It should have been better, but this is still a decent film overall.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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