Swiss Army Man

By Sarah Soliman, JBFC Marketing Assistant

Yes, what you’ve heard is true. Swiss Army Man does indeed star Daniel Radcliffe as a corpse, and an excessively flatulent one. But more than being a feature-length fart joke, the film is a heartfelt buddy comedy, surrealist survival odyssey, and an empathetic sketch of two lonely men, adrift in the world.

Swiss Army Man begins with Hank (Paul Dano), marooned on an island and midway through a suicide attempt when he sees a body wash up on the shore. After an unsuccessful attempt to revive the corpse, Hank soon realizes that the body has some bizarre and fantastic abilities. Thanks to the gas it is releasing, Hank is able to triumphantly ride the body through the sea like a jet ski, onward to the mainland. Here, the two find themselves making their way through the forest, and Hank beings to discover how handy the corpse, whom he names Manny, really is. Through various bodily functions Manny helps Hank obtain food and water, and serves as gun, ax, and compass. Moreover, Manny becomes more than a useful corpse; he becomes a friend for Hank, who desperately needs one.

Directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known collectively as Daniels) achieve a balance of tones, delighting in the juvenile humor of the premise, but never losing sight of the melancholy that gives Swiss Army Man its emotional impact. Both these sensibilities help prop up the oddness of the film, which is its primary success: it embraces its weirdness, and asks the audience to meet it on its own terms. With a film this hilarious, charming, and even moving, it’s hard not to embrace that weirdness.

Swiss Army Man opens Friday, July 1. Tickets are on sale now.