We watched Swiss Army Man this weekend, its one of those films we kept hearing about but due to limited cinema release, hadn’t seen.
Now when a film is described as a cross between Robert Zemeckis drama Cast Away but with a large element of comedy cult classic Weekend at Bernie’s it certainly grabbed our interest, mainly out of curiosity.
Bernie’s centres around 2 friends trying to prove to the mob that a man who has been murdered is still alive, it certainly is funnier than it sounds and well liked as it even spawned a sequel!
So this film again features a corpse (played by Daniel Radcliffe) who has washed up ashore and discovered by the man stranded on the island.
The man, Hank (Paul Dano) we learn is suicidal and so alone, but the corpse he names Manny, offers him a lifeline and companionship, much like Wilson the Basketball did for Tom Hanks in Cast Away.
Now how you feel about the concept of a man bonding with a corpse will depend on how you feel about this film, I have seen many comments from people who have seen this film describing it as disgusting and glorifying Necrophilia!
Hank soon learns that his corpse friend can talk and appear to have supernatural powers, from being a jet ski to being able to act as a grappling hook and a weapon to catch them food.
As odd as that sounds, the film really centres on the reclusive and lonely Hank. We learn he has an estranged relationship with his family, and is desperate for love, as we learn he is besotted with a girl called Sarah (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who he sees most days, but has never been able to talk to.
We learn also that Manny has forgotten everything about life, so Hank tries to educate him, as he has a great skill in making things from garbage, he also leads Manny to believe it is he who is in love with Sarah.
Using Manny’s powers of being a compass, Hank hopes he can get home as we follow the 2 unusual friends try to get back to civilisation.
This really is an unusual film but is a great drama about friendship and finding traits in the unusual, it is a bit of shame that the film is more described as ‘Harry Potter playing a farting corpse’
From Writer & director Daniels (Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert) this is an impressive debut and we will look forward to seeing what they do next.
Dano and Radcliffe put in great performances, that really help the film have a heart and we are sure this will become an instant cult classic.
You can see the trailer and play with your own version of Manny at the film website here:
You can find the film at Amazon here:
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