Review of Swiss Army Man (2016) by Peter F — 04 Jul 2016

The feature debut for directing duo Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan (Marketed as Daniels) is an absurdist character study with a concept that rings with brilliance, but without the weight to sustain it.

The set-up is enough to garner anyone's attention (a drifting loner befriends...someone who farts him back to civilization), and Daniels demonstrate that they have a background in directing music videos.

The film is lively and visceral, yet it never quite pulls you into into the emotional schism that the movie feels it has encased the characters in. There are also too many montage sequences, and while the dialogue evidently wants to be introspective, it's too simple and repetitive to be considered developed.

Despite my criticisms, it must be said that a movie like Swiss Army Man would have been hard to manage under any circumstances, as its bizarre idea combined with humanity-touching themes is hard to pull off without coming off as a complete joke.

In that understanding, it might be logical to say Daniels made the best film they possibly could with their material, and for that it's a promising debut.