Daniel Radcliffe in a still from Swiss Army Man. (Image courtesy: Twitter)
Los Angeles:
There's always some stiff competition for Weirdest Movie of Sundance, and 2016 has some solid contenders. It could have been The Lobster, a satire that takes place in a universe where singletons who fail to couple up are hunted down, tranquilized, then turned into an animal of their choosing. (Hey, at least they get to pick!)
But that movie has nothing on Swiss Army Man. The dark, surreal comedy stars Paul Dano as Hank, a man stranded on a desert island, who discovers a corpse washed up on the beach. The body is played by Daniel Radcliffe, and if his mostly nude performance in the play Equus didn't distance the actor from his decade-plus stretch playing Harry Potter, this certainly will. (Also Read: Why Eddie Redmayne Gives Daniel Radcliffe 'Wizard Envy')
Hank quickly learns that this isn't your typical dead body. It has special powers, one of which is gas so powerful that it can transport the marooned man back to civilization. That's right, Hank rides the dead body like a jetski using the corpse's gas like a motor.
Eventually, the body partially comes back to life. He can't move really, but he can speak and his name is Manny. He remembers nothing of his past or human existence in general, leaving Hank to explain what life is all about. It's all very Michel Gondry-esque (think Be Kind Rewind and The Science of Sleep) as Hank uses shadow puppets and rudimentary dolls made of sticks and leaves to explain everything from commuting by bus to sadness and the glory of Jurassic Park to sex.
This educational period supplies plenty of laughs as Manny grapples with the bizarre truths of humanity and social constructs. Why on earth would people hide their farts from one another, the corpse wonders. Why are humans so afraid of appearing weird? And who would want to live in such a world?
All the while, Hank continues to explore Manny's many talents. He can be used as a gun because he can shoot objects out of his mouth; he can chop a log in half with his spring-powered limbs; his body collects water, so Hank can use him as a well (and watching Hank drink water that was stored inside of a corpse isn't for the squeamish); and, when Manny gets . . . well . . . excited, he can point Hank back to civilization with a phallic compass.
The feature debut from writer-director duo Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert only gets more unpredictable from there, as Manny and Hank's relationship deepens. Giving away much more would be too spoilery, but let's just say that the movie marks a funny accomplishment for Radcliffe, who has now locked lips on screen with both Dano and his real-life girlfriend, Zoe Kazan. Radcliffe and Kazan played love interests in another festival-circuit movie, the romantic comedy What If. That's an odd factoid, but hardly the weirdest footnote in the story of Swiss Army Man. Sometimes fiction really is stranger.
© 2016, The Washington Post
But that movie has nothing on Swiss Army Man. The dark, surreal comedy stars Paul Dano as Hank, a man stranded on a desert island, who discovers a corpse washed up on the beach. The body is played by Daniel Radcliffe, and if his mostly nude performance in the play Equus didn't distance the actor from his decade-plus stretch playing Harry Potter, this certainly will. (Also Read: Why Eddie Redmayne Gives Daniel Radcliffe 'Wizard Envy')
Hank quickly learns that this isn't your typical dead body. It has special powers, one of which is gas so powerful that it can transport the marooned man back to civilization. That's right, Hank rides the dead body like a jetski using the corpse's gas like a motor.
Eventually, the body partially comes back to life. He can't move really, but he can speak and his name is Manny. He remembers nothing of his past or human existence in general, leaving Hank to explain what life is all about. It's all very Michel Gondry-esque (think Be Kind Rewind and The Science of Sleep) as Hank uses shadow puppets and rudimentary dolls made of sticks and leaves to explain everything from commuting by bus to sadness and the glory of Jurassic Park to sex.
This educational period supplies plenty of laughs as Manny grapples with the bizarre truths of humanity and social constructs. Why on earth would people hide their farts from one another, the corpse wonders. Why are humans so afraid of appearing weird? And who would want to live in such a world?
All the while, Hank continues to explore Manny's many talents. He can be used as a gun because he can shoot objects out of his mouth; he can chop a log in half with his spring-powered limbs; his body collects water, so Hank can use him as a well (and watching Hank drink water that was stored inside of a corpse isn't for the squeamish); and, when Manny gets . . . well . . . excited, he can point Hank back to civilization with a phallic compass.
The feature debut from writer-director duo Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert only gets more unpredictable from there, as Manny and Hank's relationship deepens. Giving away much more would be too spoilery, but let's just say that the movie marks a funny accomplishment for Radcliffe, who has now locked lips on screen with both Dano and his real-life girlfriend, Zoe Kazan. Radcliffe and Kazan played love interests in another festival-circuit movie, the romantic comedy What If. That's an odd factoid, but hardly the weirdest footnote in the story of Swiss Army Man. Sometimes fiction really is stranger.
© 2016, The Washington Post
