Review of Swiss Army Man (2016) by Dawdlingpoet — 25 Nov 2021

This is a very, VERY quirky film, from the outset. It has lots of gross out scenes (think farting etc.). I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Its quite quiet, dialogue wise, certainly to start with, so as a viewer I didn't feel I had much of a clue what was going on.

This film has very much a comic book fantasy feel to it and is aimed at a somewhat adult (or certainly teenage centric) audience I'd say - however its not purely 'American Pie' or 'Thunderpants' - its perhaps a bit more 'Shaun Of The Dead' but its not quite any of all 3 of them. Its quite colourful visually and its mainly set in a forest, so there are lots of greens - green, yellow and blue being the main colours of note I suppose. The somewhat perhaps slightly exaggerated colour tones help the film to come across as more...energetic I suppose.

It has quite a naive sounding musical score, making it sound like its some kind of very poignant film, although I'm not sure I'd entirely go that far. It's somehow (if mildly) uplifting. It sounds a little ethereal, or tribal, if anything. There is talk about life, death and sex but in a screwball sort of a way (pardon the accidental pun!). The music did make me smile at times though, I have to say. I'd say the film is mostly about friendship or companionship in an isolated area - that and opening up. Its certainly more than a bit zany and more than a little strange but it does have a sort of a heart about it, which I did appreciate and enjoy.

Some of the dialogue is both amusing and a bit thoughtful at times, when the characters aren't being madcap silly, or silly-ish. Its a hard film to describe in much detail, especially without potentially giving away spoilers. I liked the fast camera movements at times as well.

I would recommend this film, as long as you know it contains sex references and toilet humour, so if that would put you off then maybe you'd be better avoiding it but it does, I feel, become more meaningful than that would make you think. Funnily enough, if I had to describe it in one word, that word would be quirky (as heck)!. Oh and also, you may well find yourself humming the tune from Jurassic Park after seeing this. I'll say no more. It perhaps is a film that deserves a 2nd watch, to see if I can make more sense of some of the messages hidden behind the plot, maybe.