Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot (2018)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot (2018) – G. Van Sant

Joaquin Phoenix plays cartoonist John Callahan (you’ll probably recognise his style when you see it) who is paralysed in a car accident while drinking and subsequently joins Alcoholics Anonymous and goes through the twelve steps.  If this sounds like “after school special” material, well it probably is – but director Gus Van Sant and Joaquin Phoenix work hard to provide enough “edge” to keep viewers interested.  Callahan seems to have been quite a character, although the twelve steps are suggested to have sanded some of the edges off  -- if not in his controversial humour, then at least in his dealings with people (a positive thing).  Jonah Hill plays Callahan’s AA sponsor and it is probably a testament to the film’s acceptance of all of its diverse characters that I didn’t realise he was gay until it started to become featured in the dialogue and his AIDS diagnosis is revealed – the film takes place mostly in the 1980s).  Van Sant keeps things interesting with film technique – lots of split screens (and moving split screens) to indicate the passage of time.  He employs a lot of eccentric character actors in small parts who help to liven up the proceedings (Kim Gordon, Udo Kier, Jack Black, Rooney Mara, Carrie Brownstein).  And of course, you can’t help but confront your own hypothetical “what if” about being a quadriplegic (and your attitudes toward disability) or think about alcohol’s negative role/influence/impact on society and our lives (and the excuses we employ to rely on it).  Phoenix’s acting is stupendous (as usual) and he disappears into the character – but it is hard not to feel that the film is designed to be “good for you” at some level.  But who said that’s a bad thing?