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Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot(2018)

Movie1h 55mEnglishComedy, Drama

6.9

User Score

72%

Critic Score

Director: Gus Van Sant

Writers: Gus Van Sant, John Callahan + 2 more

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Overview

After a devastating accident, a hard-drinking man tries to rebuild his life through sobriety and a supportive recovery community. As he learns to live with new physical limits, he discovers an unexpected outlet in drawing sharp, often provocative cartoons that help him find purpose and connection again.

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Review Summary

Pros: honest recovery journey; strong performances; dark, heartfelt humor | Cons: jumpy timeline; slow, subdued pace; uneven emotional pull

Will You Like This?

You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a true-story drama about addiction, disability, and finding purpose, with biting humor and heartfelt moments; Not for you if you need a fast, linear, consistently upbeat watch like Stan & Ollie.

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Featured Comments/Tips

Saint Pauly

Like an AA meeting: disjointed, funny, moving, boring, inspiring and, ultimately, rewarding. The actors are mesmerising. Joaquin Phoenix recovers nicely here from his misstep with _Mary Magdalene_ but it''s Jonah Hill as the sage gay sponsor who steals the film with a subtle portrayal imbued with nonchalant spirituality. Rock stars Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) and Beth Ditto (Gossip) make appearances and Ditto turns in a solid gold performance that left me hoping she''ll continue down the acting path. Despite being overlong and bogged down with an unnecessarily complicated timeline, the overall film moved me and made me glad I got past the clunky title and misleading rom-com poster.

sistersolaris

i don’t understand why joaquin phoenix had to drag rooney mara into this dreadful movie to play some lousy role which is basically the image of a worthless trophy girlfriend/arm candy. but anyhow, the structure of this film makes me want to rip my hair out. what was this film even ABOUT and why did it took so long to end ???

deadcow7

Spoilers

great blend of '"philosophy'" and humor. what struck me most is how well van sant and his team fit humor, irony and lightheartedness into the premise which consists basically of a double-downer (alcoholism and paralysis). this is just what makes the Callahan''s cartoons so great, so presume it pays good homage to the artist. phoenix and hill are simply great. i was only a bit disappointed by how much the movie seems to have nothing to say about the hardships of adjusting to paralysis and by the storyline of the angel-like scandinavian girlfriend.

faithful soul

Spoilers

After seeing one film today that tried to manipulate my emotions, [spoiler] Midnight Sun [/spoiler], here''s a film that hits the heart because it speaks truth within its narrative. An impressive film, based on the life of a man who I knew very little about, and a story that deals in complicated thought processes and feelings. Phoenix is terrific, as usual, and Jonah Hill delivers the knockout performance of his career.

CinemanicBonkers

A sound film with a strong message and good performance all around.

alegarcix

really good movie, slow and boring at the start but once you pass it, it gets incredible.

Mr. Sackamano

We used to get shit holed drunk and ride wheelies in the living room with my grandpas wheel chair after grandma would go to bed...good times

Inspektorat

Beautiful and warm movie. Manages to be funny as well! Soundtrack rounds it out perfectly. Excellent dramatization of a character on his way to redemption. Highly recommended.

i7eep7hought

Dexter: That’s all people do in L.A. They talk about their colons.

Redouaaane

Very uneven. Parts of it are worthwhile, but most of the first half is wanky and really unpleasant to watch. The non-linear storytelling was unnecessary and just created confusion.

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Featured User Reviews

Keeper70

0/10

If you ever want to watch a film where alcoholism, and more importantly, the twelve-step plan, are shown honestly, and in particular that plan, then this is the film for you. Gus Van Sant is a very straightforward director who is not really about bells and whistles so from a purely technical point of view you have a well shot, well made, ‘clear’ for want of a better word, film. This allows the actors to act and by goodness are we not treated to some superb acting. Normally you would be used to saying, oh Joaquin Phoenix is in this film, so there’s your ‘star’ but throughout the running time and in every scene, Jonah Hill blows him out of the water with a performance of a charismatic character that is in itself charismatic, funny, poignant and every other emotion node in the book. Simply he is brilliant and at the end of the film, even off-screen I cried about him. Superb. I cannot praise him enough. Fair enough Joaquin Phoenix is about a micron behind him and Rooney Mara as the beautiful lovely gentle aircrew member is equally as good, and that in a role that could have been very much supporting and very much overshadowed. The supporting cast around these behemoths are very good too, Jack Black bookends the film and plays a more realistic version of his slobbish comedy version persona, he is superb too, so in the end you just have to say it is great film – all around. Based on a real-life story this film is not mawkish, yet is definitely a tearjerker, it is funny but never disrespectful of the topic and neither does it shy away from the unpleasant side of all of us but neither does it moralise. We are all human beings clinging to this rock and we are flawed beyond belief. Come and see us. No film is perfect, and you can get confused by Rooney Mara’s character, particularly at the start of the film and I suspect she is a composite character or entirely fictional. There is also perhaps too much jumping around on the timeline at the start of the story, but ‘pah’ I don’t care! This is probably the best film I have seen in some time, and I am not shy is saying it gave me some insight into things that perhaps I never considered. Being a wheelchair after an accident, being drunk, and all the points in between. I loved it. Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far on Foot is meaningful, funny, poignant, horrifying, sad, entertaining and everything else you want a film to be. Actors at the top of the game, acting in an interesting story about a real-life lived, not necessarily in the right way. I recommend it. Why wouldn’t I?

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