Swiss Army Man - directed by Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Paul Dano, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Richard Gross, Timothy Eulich, Marika Casteel, Andy Hull, Aaron Marshall, Antonia Ribero
Screenplay: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
"Swiss Army Man" has such a goofy central premise that I wanted to see it immediately the first trailer was released.
It seemed the perfect combination of concept, lowbrow humour (farts!) and casting.
Paul Dano as a suicidal castaway.
Daniel Radcliffe as a corpse who becomes his survival tool.
The trailer showed Radcliffe being used as a flatulence powered jetski.
Insanity but so, so funny.
So.....Sold!
Having seen "Green Room" and "High-Rise" as my first two movies at this years NZ International Film Festival I had had plenty of intensity and seriousness for a while already.
I was so ready for something a little lighter and this film seemed to be just the thing.
It seems that every article or preview that I have read about "Swiss Army Man" tries to find the perfect 'it's film A meets film B' comparison to explain it.
I have read that it is "Castaway" meets "Weekend At Bernie's" several times and "Revenant" if John Waters had directed it.
Personally I think that there is a better comparison and it comes courtesy of a previous film from the lead of this one.
Paul Dano's quirky, imaginative and smart 2012 film "Ruby Sparks" in which he plays a writer whose creation comes to life constantly came to mind when I watched "Swiss Army Man".
The easy correlations are that both films share a lead actor and both involve a non-living character that springs to life.
In the case of "Swiss Army Man" it is a corpse that washes ashore just as Dano's Hank has decided to kill himself.
He has been stranded on a tiny island and sees no hope.
We soon learn that this may have been the case before he was stranded.
And this is what really brought "Ruby Sparks" to mind for me.
Both films deal with a strange occurrence that helps the lead character deal with the things that are wrong in his life.
It's a bizarre sentence to write but as the corpse that saves Hank's life and makes him examine it anew Daniel Radcliffe is perfect.
He does have lines but the hows and whys I will not go into.
I don't want to spoil anything but in truth the mechanics don't matter one iota anyway.
Finding comfort in another human being (albeit a dead one) Hank also comes to realise that the gas laden body can be used for a multitude of tasks.
Initially the corpse (aptly named 'Manny') serves as a fart powered jet-ski that provides a majestic slow motion title sequence and also gets Hank and Manny onto a larger tract of land.
It is here that the two become friends.
Yes- we get lots of very funny moments where Manny earns the film its title with wood chopping, fishing, hunting, lighting fires and providing transport and in an outrageously funny turn of events - a compass.
But what we are really getting with this movie is quite a touching, clever story about friendship.
Because Manny doesn't know much about life he is the perfect plot device.
He doesn't understand what it means to be weird or inappropriate.
He doesn't know why a woman is different from a man or what sex is.
Hank must explain it to him and in doing so has to confront his failures in many aspects of life.
Fortunately all of this heavy stuff doesn't mean that we are denied the sort of crude fart humour that the trailers and the premise promised.
We get loads of it.
Radcliffe's expressions and his line delivery provides much of the really funny stuff.
It is quite a risky role for him but of late he has shown that he is not afraid of stepping outside of the normal roles.
He proves more than up to the physical comedy required of him.
I will not reveal the extent to which he becomes a Swiss Army Man but trust me- it is out there!
Outside of this there is a lot of humour derived from the growing friendship of Manny and Hank.
This is where both leads are so good.
They have a real chemistry and the scenes in which they act out talking to a girl whose photo is on a phone that they have are very, very cleverly done.
Co-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert keep the tone light and they are right to.
Some of these scenes reminded me of "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" in that there is an imagination at play that brought a smile to my face for much of the film.
For a film that is basically a two man cast with limited locations and a very simple premise it manages to hold the viewer's interest well.
It is about so much more than the trailers and the plot would have you think.
Dano is rapidly becoming the absolute king at the sort of character he plays here - shy, introverted, nervous and in need of a kick in the pants!
The relationship and the banter between he and Radliffe are the heart and soul and I really enjoyed this film.
It has plenty of surprises in store, plenty of laughs and I guarantee that for all the comparisons and "it is like..." descriptions you have never seen anything like this before.
And in itself that is a recommendation.
RATING: 78 / 100
CONCLUSION: A smart, quirky, highly imaginative film that is so much more than a movie about a farting corpse!
Screenplay: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Music Score by: Robert McDowell & Andy Hull
Cinematography: Larkin Seiple
Edited by: Matthew Hannam
Running Time: 95 minutes
Language: English
Rated: TBC - language and sexual themes(!)
Cinematography: Larkin Seiple
Edited by: Matthew Hannam
Running Time: 95 minutes
Language: English
Rated: TBC - language and sexual themes(!)
"Swiss Army Man" has such a goofy central premise that I wanted to see it immediately the first trailer was released.
It seemed the perfect combination of concept, lowbrow humour (farts!) and casting.
Paul Dano as a suicidal castaway.
Daniel Radcliffe as a corpse who becomes his survival tool.
The trailer showed Radcliffe being used as a flatulence powered jetski.
Insanity but so, so funny.
So.....Sold!
Having seen "Green Room" and "High-Rise" as my first two movies at this years NZ International Film Festival I had had plenty of intensity and seriousness for a while already.
I was so ready for something a little lighter and this film seemed to be just the thing.
It seems that every article or preview that I have read about "Swiss Army Man" tries to find the perfect 'it's film A meets film B' comparison to explain it.
I have read that it is "Castaway" meets "Weekend At Bernie's" several times and "Revenant" if John Waters had directed it.
Personally I think that there is a better comparison and it comes courtesy of a previous film from the lead of this one.
Paul Dano's quirky, imaginative and smart 2012 film "Ruby Sparks" in which he plays a writer whose creation comes to life constantly came to mind when I watched "Swiss Army Man".
The easy correlations are that both films share a lead actor and both involve a non-living character that springs to life.
In the case of "Swiss Army Man" it is a corpse that washes ashore just as Dano's Hank has decided to kill himself.
He has been stranded on a tiny island and sees no hope.
We soon learn that this may have been the case before he was stranded.
And this is what really brought "Ruby Sparks" to mind for me.
Both films deal with a strange occurrence that helps the lead character deal with the things that are wrong in his life.
 |
| When life gets you down it is the weirdest things that can pick you up it seems |
He does have lines but the hows and whys I will not go into.
I don't want to spoil anything but in truth the mechanics don't matter one iota anyway.
Finding comfort in another human being (albeit a dead one) Hank also comes to realise that the gas laden body can be used for a multitude of tasks.
Initially the corpse (aptly named 'Manny') serves as a fart powered jet-ski that provides a majestic slow motion title sequence and also gets Hank and Manny onto a larger tract of land.
It is here that the two become friends.
Yes- we get lots of very funny moments where Manny earns the film its title with wood chopping, fishing, hunting, lighting fires and providing transport and in an outrageously funny turn of events - a compass.
But what we are really getting with this movie is quite a touching, clever story about friendship.
Because Manny doesn't know much about life he is the perfect plot device.
He doesn't understand what it means to be weird or inappropriate.
He doesn't know why a woman is different from a man or what sex is.
Hank must explain it to him and in doing so has to confront his failures in many aspects of life.
Fortunately all of this heavy stuff doesn't mean that we are denied the sort of crude fart humour that the trailers and the premise promised.
We get loads of it.
Radcliffe's expressions and his line delivery provides much of the really funny stuff.
It is quite a risky role for him but of late he has shown that he is not afraid of stepping outside of the normal roles.
He proves more than up to the physical comedy required of him.
I will not reveal the extent to which he becomes a Swiss Army Man but trust me- it is out there!
Outside of this there is a lot of humour derived from the growing friendship of Manny and Hank.
This is where both leads are so good.
They have a real chemistry and the scenes in which they act out talking to a girl whose photo is on a phone that they have are very, very cleverly done.
Co-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert keep the tone light and they are right to.
Some of these scenes reminded me of "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" in that there is an imagination at play that brought a smile to my face for much of the film.
 |
| One of these actors is in the movie far less than I would prefer but still.... a very good movie |
It is about so much more than the trailers and the plot would have you think.
Dano is rapidly becoming the absolute king at the sort of character he plays here - shy, introverted, nervous and in need of a kick in the pants!
The relationship and the banter between he and Radliffe are the heart and soul and I really enjoyed this film.
It has plenty of surprises in store, plenty of laughs and I guarantee that for all the comparisons and "it is like..." descriptions you have never seen anything like this before.
And in itself that is a recommendation.
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