Aware of this title since hearing about the off-beat plot outline a few years ago,I had become interested in seeing the title recently, due to learning that this is an earlier film from the writers/ directors of Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022),I was pleased to spot it being chosen for Dan Murrell's Movie Club, leading to me picking up the Swiss Army knife.
View on the film:
Insisting to appear in every shot, rather then have the doll which had been made for the production appear on screen, Daniel Radcliffe gives a terrific performance as Manny, whose loving support for Hank is expressed in garbled, crunchy vocals, with Radcliffe bringing a fragility out of Manny, in his stiff bodily functions.
Stranded on an island with only a farting corpse for company, Paul Dano gives a wonderful performance as Hank, whose dependency on Manny is used by Dano to dig into Hank's obsessions which take him to a disturbing breaking point edge.
Joining Manny and Hank on the island, co-writers/co-directors the Daniels make their feature film making debut via closely working with cinematographer Larkin Seiple to give the island a thick, misty appearance, captured in wide panning shots over the miles of tresses surrounding Hank and Manny.
Branching out towards an ending which lays out Hank's psychological problems, and also ruins any ambiguity on if Manny is really talking, or if Hank is imagining it all, the Daniels unveil Hank's obsessions with (what he believes to be) re-enactments of moments in his life, using poorly-built props and sets made from plants and garbage found on the island, in order to teach Manny life skills.
Aiming for a tragic Fantasy Comedy mood in the re-enactments sequences, the Daniels sadly make the set-pieces come off as extremely grating, due to a forced self-awareness of making everything kooky and quirky, where any moment when a chance presents itself to explore Hank's mind-set, gets stamped on with a grinding zaniness, as Manny cuts the Swiss cheese.
View on the film:
Insisting to appear in every shot, rather then have the doll which had been made for the production appear on screen, Daniel Radcliffe gives a terrific performance as Manny, whose loving support for Hank is expressed in garbled, crunchy vocals, with Radcliffe bringing a fragility out of Manny, in his stiff bodily functions.
Stranded on an island with only a farting corpse for company, Paul Dano gives a wonderful performance as Hank, whose dependency on Manny is used by Dano to dig into Hank's obsessions which take him to a disturbing breaking point edge.
Joining Manny and Hank on the island, co-writers/co-directors the Daniels make their feature film making debut via closely working with cinematographer Larkin Seiple to give the island a thick, misty appearance, captured in wide panning shots over the miles of tresses surrounding Hank and Manny.
Branching out towards an ending which lays out Hank's psychological problems, and also ruins any ambiguity on if Manny is really talking, or if Hank is imagining it all, the Daniels unveil Hank's obsessions with (what he believes to be) re-enactments of moments in his life, using poorly-built props and sets made from plants and garbage found on the island, in order to teach Manny life skills.
Aiming for a tragic Fantasy Comedy mood in the re-enactments sequences, the Daniels sadly make the set-pieces come off as extremely grating, due to a forced self-awareness of making everything kooky and quirky, where any moment when a chance presents itself to explore Hank's mind-set, gets stamped on with a grinding zaniness, as Manny cuts the Swiss cheese.