Second Opinion – Swiss Army Man – Film Review by Fran Winston

Directed by: Daniel Scheinert, Daniel Kwan
Starring: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

On limited release from September 30th

I may as well just be honest here and tell you that this is one of the most bonkers movies you will see not just this year but probably ever. Not bonkers as in it’s aimed at stoners and not bonkers as in it’s trying to present some sort of existential message in a bizarre way. Just good old fashioned mad as a brush bonkers.

Why? Well, for a start Daniel Radcliffe’s character Manny is dead for the whole thing (I know what you’re thinking – what a challenging role). He washes up on an island as the stranded Hank (Dano) is about to kill himself. When he can’t resuscitate the corpse Hank gives up hope again but then Manny begins to fart (yep it’s that kind of flick) and Hank uses the flatulence to ride him like a jet ski to the mainland. Once there Hank discovers just how useful the corpse can be (hence the title of the movie –he’s like a Swiss Army Knife – geddit!) but then something mysterious happens. Manny starts communicating and begins to speak and interact with Hank eventually trying to sort out Hank’s unrequited love with chaotic results.

I’m not gonna lie – I’m somewhat at a loss as to how to describe this. It goes beyond what I would consider experimental and at times seems almost self indulgent. What saves this is Dano who gives a fantastic performance against Radcliffe’s mysteriously reanimated corpse. However the whole premise is so mad that you spend most of the movie processing it and wondering what the hell you’re watching!

I enjoyed this (I think) as it has some wonderfully witty whimsical moments but I would need a second watch in order to actually figure out what I saw. This is a hard movie to pin down and a hard one to describe. I don’t feel I fully processed it on one viewing but I don’t really have a desire to watch it again. If this is on your cinema hit list make sure you are sober going in, pay close attention to everything as it is all interlinked and don’t even try to figure it out or analyse it. To sum this up it is an acquired taste and won’t be to everybody’s taste particularly since Radcliffe spends a lot of the movie farting). You have been warned.