Review: Swiss Army Man

Yes, this is the film that is becoming known as the 'farting corpse movie'.

It all started at the start of the year at the Sundance Film Festival when we heard reports of walk-outs by some and the rest loving it.
There was a similar aftermath from Cannes, but with boos.

Despite all of this, it was still getting a lot of love from some highly acclaimed critics.

Initially, I was not going to see this as I felt the atmosphere at the screening would be uncomfortable. But I wanted to give some well deserved box office sales and braved into the my local picturehouse.

I am certainly glad I went to see it as this is certainly a unique film that feels like a miracle that this came into existence.

How do I even begin to explain this movie? Is there a lot of farting from a corpse, yes. But it is so, so much more than that.
From the first act, you pretty much get swept up in the tone of it and you are on board. After that, it is consistent laughter from wonderfully drawn out characters and themes and messages that are probably one of the strongest and most profound I've seen this year.
Then the build-up to the final act had me intrigued which path it would go down. It almost went down the one I was predicting. However, I was still highly satisfied with it and it certainly creates a discussion afterwards.
However, it does pose a question of a certain David Fincher film that once you have seen this film, you will understand. That is partially fulfilled and the path I felt this movie was going to go down.

Both Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe are terrific as the leads. Their chemistry is wonderful and Radcliffe probably gives us his greatest EVER performance. Yes, ever. This is probably the first performance that I have seen from him that made me not feel that I am watching Harry Potter in something that does not involve wizards.

The symbolism is the films strongest aspect. It really makes you want to seize the day and do stuff that you have always felt people see as you being weird. This films makes you embrace your inner strange, because that's what makes you, you.
The success of this can relate to the writing. It is wonderful and it really makes this film the success that it is becoming. While the premise may put people off, the script makes it a possible favourite with certain demographics.
The execution of the dialogue made amount of laughs a high and one of the highest I have experienced this year.

It is clearly not going to be everyone's cup of tea. Mainstream audiences will see as complete nonsense. But if you know what you are getting yourselves in for and embrace the general weirdness of it all. Then you can find a lot of great messages that this film is trying to send out.
This is one of the those films that I would recommend you see the trailer beforehand. It is just so you can get a taste of the tone and vibe before seeing it.

It is quite hard to compare this movie to anything else. If pushed, I would say it is a mix of Cast Away and Weekend At Bernie's.
But it is extremely strange, weird and a highly original piece of work. But it manages to still give profound themes and messages that any successful blockbuster or your typical Oscar film would have. Props to the directing duo that is known as 'Daniels'.

It is a shame that some people booed or walked out of its screening at Cannes. In an age where originality rarely gets the green light, a wide distribution or gets big box office, we should champion material like this.

If you want see something completely different and something you have not seen before, then look out for this and where it is being shown. I think it will miss out on my top 10 of the year. But it will certainly warrant an honorable mention.

Rating: 8/10