Gus Van Sant’s New Drama
Joaquin Phoenix Plays a Quadriplegic Cartoonist
At first glance, the film Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot, is a classic, tragic tale. John Callahan, a young, aimless alcoholic, is paralyzed in a car wreck at the hand of a drunk driver. He wakes up in the hospital with no hope of walking ever again and no intention of ever giving up his destructive drinking.
Starring Joaquin Phoenix as Callahan, the film, at times horrifying and hilarious, follows the ups and many downs of his recovery. As he adjusts to his situation and his wheelchair, Callahan meets the love of his life, played by Phoenix’s real-life girlfriend, Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and the man who would save his life, his charismatic Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor played by beautifully by Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street). Jack Black (School of Rock) Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia), and singers Beth Ditto and Kim Gordon also star.
Directed by two-time Academy Award-nominee, Gus Van Sant, the movie never softens the blows dealt Callahan, or his relentless need to self-destruct. One scene when Callahan is so blind drunk, he smashes his wheelchair and goes flying into the street, is painful yet funny to watch. As with many of his earlier films like Drugstore Cowboy (1989) with Matt Dillion and To Die For (1995) also starring a young Joaquin Phoenix and Nicole Kidman, Van Sant never fails to see the humor in bad boy behavior.
On the other side of that coin are two beautiful, sensitive films that glorify well-deserving men. Good Will Hunting, about a mathematical genius and his shrink, won Matt Damon and Ben Affleck a screenwriting Oscar and Robin Williams his for Best Supporting Actor in 1997. And the gorgeously shot bio-pic, Milk (2008), about the life and death of gay rights advocate Harvey Milk, garnered Sean Penn an Oscar for Best Actor and Dustin Lance Black one for Original Screenplay.
With accolades like that for so many of his movies, isn’t it time for Gus Van Sant to win one, too? Perhaps this inspirational portrait of John Callahan will be his golden ticket. At the very least we expect Phoenix and Hill to be recognized for their incredible work come March 2019.
