It gets points for originality, that's for sure. And then it really depends on how you want to see it.
It starts more as a comedy. That's a guy, stranded on an island, that uses a corpse's farts to get away jet-ski style. He then uses it to get water. He's drinking water coming from the corpse like he's been thirsty for days. Nevermind that he could have collected the rain himself, he even had a cup, but no, he's drinking from the corpse, sure.
The title's swiss army's corpse then becomes a secondary thing. It could have been funny to see how he discovers new usage and what he does with it, but it's just condensed in a short montage. Too bad.
Then, obviously he starts talking to the corpse, and the corpse reply.
Comedy is still there. It's funny, as he tries to explain life to a corpse that doesn't remember anything. Beyond the comedy, most of the discussions can also be seen as satire of society and its taboos. And most of the movie can also be seen as a metaphor of that.
But, as clearly the corpse does not speak for real, it's all in his head. And that means the corpse represents him, trying to figure out life, while he just replies with the taboos that his parents and society taught him, that he clearly does not understand. That's the first hint that he might not just go crazy from his situation, he might have already been a little deranged beforehand.
Then comes the girl. And creepiness goes way up. His phone's screen is a picture of a random girl he saw in the bus. HUGE red flag. And the biggest part of the movie is spent there, while he deploys treasures of inventivity and a lot of efforts to recreate the situation, with the corpse playing him and himself playing the girl. There's clearly no more idea of trying to escape his situation and survive.
You can still see it as funny.
You can see it as cute, it's all shown like a magical thing. It's shown exactly like a child fantasy would have been in a Wes Anderson movie, and that would be cute.
Or if you stop half a second to think about what that implies, it's beyond creepy. It's now clear that Hank was not sane, and already a very creepy person before this happened.
Then comes the last part and the reveal, that apparently a lot of people feel doesn't fit. Well, it only doesn't fit if you stayed the whole time on the very literal layer of the movie and assumed the corpse was really talking, and that you ignored the innumerable flags that were raised along the way. I mean, again: the guy's phone screen is a stolen photo of a random girl in the bus. That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about how much of a creep he is.
Turns out he was never lost, and spent his whole little adventure barely a few hundred meters from where the girl lives, with her husband and daughter. That's not a random encounter, he knew where she lived, he was not only a creep but a stalker too. Not only does it fit, it makes much more sense and totally explains his weird behavior.
So you can see it as a comedy.
You can see it as a cute dreamy fantasy with a dash of satire of the society.
But if you do, you're probably thinking like Hank: a creepy retarded deranged incel psychopath. On the first layer it looks like the corpse is here to save Hank's life. But maybe it was here to save Sarah's. If he hadn't found that corpse, it probably would have been her there, forced to live his little fantasies, alive, or dead...
What's funny is that at the beginning I was thinking, "wow, Paul Dano is giving a real performance, and for once he's not playing a creepy guy, didn't think he could do that".
This film has a lot going on just in the idea of it. I'm not sure what to call it. Maybe physical fantasy fiction. Swiss Army Man to me sounds like it could be about a man in the Swiss Army. However, it is about a man being used as a utility tool much like a Swiss Army knife. It was most definitely a unique movie.
I really like the style of the movie. Through the scenes in the movie where there are new "moves" there is a comic book effect that really added to the comedic sense of the story. The film was edited really well, welcoming an even pace and additional but small effects that helped the humor and story. It really hit the point.
The story itself was absolutely ridiculous and it ended up being hilarious rather than the easy disaster that it could have been. A dead man helping a "lost" man "survive" in the woods by a coast is a weird concept. Then having the dead man talk and become a tool for the man to use was just crazy to watch. Then during the film I sat there wondering if this was actually happening or if he just lost his mind. Well, I had lots of questions in general. How did he get there? Why did he decide to carry this dead guy around the woods rather than burning or burying him? And many more questions. It was a really good story that kept me interested and was able to make me laugh.
Now, what I didn't like in this movie. The only thing that really put me off this movie was the obsessive thoughts that the main character has about a secondary character. His obsession pushed a lot of the movie from one point to another and it very much didn't feel right. If they had found another motivator to push the story, it would have been perfect.
Overall, this is a great, hilarious, and unique film. I would recommend watching it. Just don't start thinking that obsessing over a girl, or any person, to move your life along is ok! Still, a great movie from start to end.
Review by DeletedBlockedParentSpoilers2016-08-04T11:07:29Z
"If my best friend hides his farts from me then what else is he hiding from me, and why does that make me feel so alone?"
Honestly, I am just glad a movie like Swiss Army Man exists.
Coming from the directors of the "Turn Down for What" music video comes one of the weirdest films I have ever seen in my entire life. The film opens with Hank (Dano), attempting to hang himself on a stranded island, but instead ens up finding Manny's (Radcliffe) deceased corpse wash ashore. After this, Hank discovers Manny is not only just alive, but he has an array of unexplained supernatural abilities, including an "erection compass" (I shit you not), extreme flatulence, super human strength, and even more.
The film's premise is so bizarre, but it constantly manages to be relatable, no matter how crazy the movie continues to get. The film feels rewarding as you watch it, and not just based on a gimmick to show a bunch of dumb stuff happen on screen for 90 minutes. The film has an apparent purpose, and thats what makes it stand out; Beneath all the insanity, it has a lot of heart.
The cinematography is beautiful, and coupled with the score, there are many scenes in this movie which are absolutely serene
Its well acted, its genuinely hilarious, and it really will make you think at times - which was a pleasant surprise, to be honest. My only gripe with the film is that the third act (the last twenty minutes to be specific) drags on too long and the momentum is somewhat lost by the time the credits roll by.
All in all, Swiss Army Man is an extremely enjoyable film, and one that truly is memorable, especially in a time when we're constantly being plagued by sequels and unnecessary reboots.