An ‘Existential Fart Drama’
In what has got to be the strangest bromance ever made, things begin to look up for a man stranded on a desert island (Paul Dano) after he discovers the corpse of another man (Daniel Radcliffe). The corpse, thanks to its constant flatulence, proves useful to help Dano get off the island. We’re not quite sure what to think of this one, to be honest. Mostly we’re just confused. Created by director duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert — aka Daniels — the film was purportedly based on their desire to create an “existential fart drama.”
Swiss Army Man opens at Kahala Theatre July 1.
JAIMIE: Well, huh. I … I have no words.
CHRISTINA: What did we even just watch? Like, at first it starts out looking like it will be good, but then it just devolves into (dead) body humor. I thought Daniel Radcliffe was maybe alive, but it seems like Paul Dano is just crazy.
NICOLE: First off, I still find it difficult to picture Daniel Radcliffe as anyone else but Harry Potter. I do, however, have a feeling that now I’m just going to see him as a dead dude that can open cans of soup for me.
JAIMIE: I will say, though, that of all the post-Harry Potter crap Daniel Radcliffe has done, this is the most interesting. If only I knew what was really going on.
CHRISTINA: Although the premise does look completely ridiculous, I would probably see it. Just for the sheer novelty of it. And Paul Dano is great and has a good track record, so there is that.
PAIGE: It’s a pretty ho-hum premise wrapped inside its dramatic “farting Daniel Radcliffe corpse” marketing pitch.
NICOLE: I really just have to LOL because he’s dead in this movie, and it is simply stupendous. Or maybe he’s not dead, which would be even creepier; and it would doubly creepy if they both go on this wild adventure to return home, but in the ending scene the camera pans over two dead bodies and their spirits who are just fantasizing about said journey.
PAIGE: I don’t like that the supposedly dead Daniel Radcliffe is both speaking and totally defying conventional laws about decomposition. Speaking, first of all, makes you wonder if he’s really dead, when the movie’s entire humor seems to pivot on the fact that he is, indeed, very dead. Ambiguity does not make that funnier. Secondly, everything I know about decomposition says that you don’t just randomly get death erections days after you die.
NICOLE: The premise of the movie seems very grim and morbid. But it also looks like it’s going to be wonderful. I cannot imagine actually carrying around a dead body because decomp is gross. But watching the trailer just put a huge smile on my face.
CHRISTINA: There was some quality about this trailer that seemed very uplifting toward the end. There is Paul Dano riding Daniel Radcliffe like a dolphin and there is triumphant music playing and everything just seems like it’s going to be fine — even though one guy is dead and the other is losing it.
