Review: Swiss Army Man

-
Maybe we're all pieces of shit.

Hank (Paul Dano) is stranded on an island somewhere in the north pacific. He's been there for a while, and just as he's about to hang himself, a farting corpse (Daniel Radcliffe) washes up on shore. Within minutes, Hank is riding this thing through the water like a jet ski in hopes that he will find civilization again.

This corpse eventually starts to speak to Hank, his name is Manny, and Hank finds himself explaining the meaning of life to him. Manny isn't just dead weight for Hank to carry around for company either. Aside from fart skiing, he turns into a water faucet for Hank to drink, his boner works as a compass, and he is eventually used to hunt small animals to. Manny is a Godsend, but the more he tries to remember about life, the harder it is for Hank to hit him with reality.

If you couldn't tell by my brief plot synopsis, this movie is fucking weird. The Lobster may have just been unseated in the bizarre movie of 2016 category. What it does do better is keep a coherent story. Swiss Army Man, under all those fart jokes is actually a very sweet commentary on finding love. 

Paul Dano as always is spectacular. He has great chemistry with Daniel Radcliffe. The characters are so different. Manny's child like view on life sets him up for most of the laughs, but it's Dano who has to carry the emotional weight. (And the sound track, most of it is mixes of him singing or humming tunes.) The set design is brilliant. Being lost in a forest should be very minimalistic, but they build some amazing props.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable quote: "If you don't know Jurassic Park, you don't know shit." - Hank (Paul Dano)

Comments

  1. Zach MurphyJuly 3, 2016 at 6:40 AM

    Great review. I love seeing all the different takes on a movie this weird.

    - Zach

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 3, 2016 at 9:13 AM

      Thank you! It was a lot better than I expected.

      Delete
  2. DellJuly 3, 2016 at 6:51 AM

    Somehow I haven't heard of this until yesterday when I showed up at a theater to see something else and walked by a poster for this. I had no clue what it is. After reading this I'm very curious, because it sounds very odd, to say the least. Great review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 3, 2016 at 9:14 AM

      I think you'd appreciate this as a lover of camp. It that the film itself is campy, it's just different like that.

      Delete
  3. thevoid99July 3, 2016 at 3:11 PM

    I want to see this. I just like the idea of Daniel Radcliffe playing a dead, farting corpse. That to me is $$$$$$$$.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Big Screen Small WordsJuly 3, 2016 at 10:26 PM

    Great review! I'm looking forward to watching this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. m.brownJuly 4, 2016 at 5:22 PM

    I don't even know what the f--k this is, but you had me at boner compass.

    Where can I make this mine? (The movie...not the compass)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 5, 2016 at 8:19 AM

      It's in theaters now! I think you'll love it. It's very out there.

      Delete
    2. m.brownJuly 5, 2016 at 12:09 PM

      We only have one lame, 13 seat mainstream theater. The one that cools shit, is like...thirty miles away. Aw.

      Delete
    3. Brittani BurnhamJuly 6, 2016 at 11:20 AM

      Worth it, get a sitter. lol

      Delete
  6. RuthJuly 5, 2016 at 4:09 PM

    I might give this a rent because the idea is just so bonkers it'd have to be seen! Did you see Free Fire trailer in front of this? I almost went to see this just to see that trailer, ahah. That's how much I love Sam Riley!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 6, 2016 at 11:19 AM

      I don't think I saw Free Fire. The only one I remember was a trailer for American Honey.

      Delete
  7. CourtneyJuly 7, 2016 at 10:46 AM

    I definitely liked this movie's different approach; it worked. What I didn't like was the ending...I'm not sure what I wanted, but it just kind of felt deflated by the end :\

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 7, 2016 at 11:05 AM

      I think the ending worked really well. After all of that, I wasn't expecting a happy one.

      Delete
  8. KatyJuly 8, 2016 at 11:54 PM

    Cool review! The trailer looked so freaking wild. I'll be trying to check this out as soon as I can.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more