I didn't know what to expect from Swiss Army Man. There's a lot of things about it on paper that were pluses. It's a Sundance movie. Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe I both like and are actors who are willing to get weird. I'm never disappointed to see Mary Elizabeth Winstead show up in a movie either. The premise is bizarre in a way that could be brilliant or could be a complete disaster. It's not a long movie, so I decided to give it a try - see if it's more than the fart jokes.
So...it's a little more than the fart jokes, but not much. Apparently, several people walked out of the Sundance screenings and I get why. There is some crude humor. Radcliffe's farting is a key component to the climax and an instigating event at the beginning. His sentient erection is used as a compass. I wasn't a fan of that element. It felt too much like an exercise to try to legitimize sophomoric humor. Don't get me wrong. I can enjoy that humor a lot - Sausage Party was one of my favorite movies last year - but you have to own up to doing it.
What actually bothered me about the movie is the ending. If you haven't seen the movie. It's about Paul Dano being trapped on a dessert island, then in a forest with a dead body, played by Daniel Radcliffe. Radcliffe's body slowly reveals special powers. See the movie if you want, but I recommend against it....Ok, the ending. That was a weird gut punch. So, Dano isn't lost, he's just a crazy guy living in the woods near a woman he's kind of stalking? Correct me if I missed something there. That alone bothered me, because it undercuts all the personal growth Dano has made throughout the film. I was fine when it turns out that he doesn't actually know Winstead. I figured Radcliffe was really dead and Dano was hallucinating all this anyway. As soon as he shows up in Winstead's backyard, I had to check out. Because, that means one of two things. 1) It's a complete coincidence that he's hiding in the forest behind her house. My one big leap was spent much earlier in the film (a couple times), so I can't forgive that coincidence. Or, 2) Dano knows she lives there and subconsciously chose to isolate himself there. That makes him a much more nefarious character and undoes a good amount of the sympathy I built up for him.
And, if all that wasn't enough, what should I make of the very end, when Radcliffe turns into a farting jet ski again in front of everyone. Again, that leaves me with two possible interpretations which are both bad. 1) That really does happen. In that case, what's the point of briefly bringing Dano back into the real world and suggesting that he's crazy? Or, 2) That's just a hallucination. In that case, I don't understand why he gets a happy ending like that. The whole point of him showing up in Winstead's backyard is to reveal that he has some serious mental problems. The jet ski ending suggests what? That he's crazy but we should be cool with that?
Please, if anyone has a different read of the last act of the film, let me know, because my interpretation is so problematic that I feel like I'm missing something.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
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