Swiss Army Man Review

I'm going to say right off the bat that this was not the movie I expected it to be - it was so much more.
I won't be giving away too many details about the movie because I urge you to watch it for yourself - minor spoilers follow.

Swiss Army Man is the perfect example of a movie that does not need to conform to the average expectations of cinema and instead can stand on its own as an original and near perfect love story. Yep, you read that tight, the movie where Daniel Radcliffe portrays a flatulent corpse is a love story. But don't be put off because this movie is not your standard boy meets girl story instead it is boy meets corpse and teaches corpse about love - which I know doesn't sound very appealing but it is surprisingly heartwarming. This movie embraces its quirkiness with a sense of pride -which it is more than entitled to because it truly is one of the strangest films I've ever had the pleasure to watch.

Daniel Radcliffe as Manny (Source)

This movie, however, needs more than just the weird and wonderful stylings of a love story about a corpse - this is where Hank (Paul Dano) comes in. Paul Dano basically carries the first half hour of this movie on his own giving a performance that captures the hopelessness and loneliness of a man lost far away from civilization. He reels the audience in, with his amazing portrayal of the weak and awkward Hank, so that within the first 5 minutes you feel how desperate he is and are able to accept the fact that he befriends a corpse. The movie opens with Hank stuck on a desert island which is where I expected the entire movie to take place, however, Hank manages to escape the island with the help* of Manny in the first 10 minutes.
*Help, in this case, means Hank riding Manny like a jet ski propelled by Manny's farts. Yes, this movie is weird.
The movie's primary focus is on Hank and Manny as they walk back home through the wilderness becoming friends as their journey continues. Manny gradually becomes more and more alive being able to talk and eventually move on his own. As their trek continues it is revealed that Manny has many amazing powers including but not limited to; Explosive Finger Snapping, Water Dispensing Mouth, Super Farts and Compass Boner. Yep, compass boner, I love this movie.

Hank rides Manny off of the island (Source)

Daniel Radcliffe faces a unique challenge as an actor and he faces this challenge no matter the role, the challenge being that he is Harry Potter. It is something that I can find distracting when I see him in a movie as it makes me stop seeing him as whoever he is supposed to be portraying and instead just seeing Harry Potter. However, in Swiss Army Man, he makes you forget completely that he was the boy who lived and instead gives an enthralling performance as the man who died. This kind of peculiar movie seems to be his strongest asset - it reminded me very much of his movie Horns which if you've seen it will know that means good things.

Unfortunately the movie does lose some steam in its final act, however, this is not  enough to stop me from rewatching the movie because the journey and the relationship between the characters is more than enough to pull me back in. I am telling you to watch this movie. Watch it now. You'll love it.


Pros
Original
Funny
Heartwarming
Unique
Amazing performances from lead actors

Cons
Loses some steam near the end

9/10