Lazy Film Critic Movie Reviews
Swiss Army Man
Swiss Army Man is a film by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (AKA Daniels), and it stars Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, and Mary-Elizabeth Winstead. This film is about a man who is stranded on an island, alone, and on the brink of starvation. However, his luck turns around when he discovers a dead body that has really strange "abilities", and is also possibly not entirely a dead person. The two of them seek survival, and that's this movie. So, is it going to be another quirky movie where the premise is weird but the movie quickly loses steam, or is it the next Rubber, where the premise isn't even the weirdest part of the movie?
A large part of what makes Swiss Army Man work are the two leads, Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe. For one of them playing a character who isn't alive, the two of them have an astonishing amount of chemistry (the body "comes to life" in a way early on). And Daniel Radcliffe plays what is easily the most convincing dead body ever shown in a film before, you really get the impression that he's just a lifeless flimsy ragdoll waving around and doing nothing.
The writing in this movie is fantastic, I've gotta say this film has probably one of the best screenplays of 2016. The dialogue in this movie is really sharp, really clever, and for a movie in which the premise is based around a fart joke, it's also surprisingly intelligent humor at times. What also makes this script so unique is how surprisingly deep it gets, this movie has a lot to say about life and the human condition and what it means to - in a very literal sense - be alive.
However, make no mistake. This movie is weird, hands down the strangest movie I've seen in some time. Now, the thing with weird movies is that they're not always easy to make. You'll either get something which has a weird premise but doesn't stay weird, something that tries so hard to be weird that it's just annoying, or something that is completely insane and thats what makes it great. Swiss Army Man is the latter, a film so out of its goddamn mind that you can't help but fall in love with its charmingly weird nature.
Final Rating
Swiss Army Man isn't a movie for everyone, but if you like weird you will like this movie. The script is fantastic, and both the lead actors do a marvellous job selling this insane premise. This movie knows its audience, and it plays off of our expectations. It's surprisingly deep, and best of all - it's a totally wild ride.
Swiss Army Man isn't a movie for everyone, but if you like weird you will like this movie. The script is fantastic, and both the lead actors do a marvellous job selling this insane premise. This movie knows its audience, and it plays off of our expectations. It's surprisingly deep, and best of all - it's a totally wild ride.
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