Review: Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot

Gus Van Sant’s biopic of US comedian John Callahan is named after Callahan’s memoir, which is turn is named after the punchline of perhaps his most famous cartoon: a couple of cowboys chasing a villain down find an overturned wheelchair and… you get the idea. It’s a sharp skewering of clichés, the kind of cartoon that’s bound to offend, and this biopic contains pretty much none of that spirit. 

That's not exactly a slam on the finished product. What Van Sant serves up is a warm-hearted and kind-spirited film that finds it in its heart to treat just about everyone with thoughtfulness and forgiveness. Joaquin Phoenix's performance as Callahan does an excellent job of capturing his youthful naivety (though Phoenix is probably past playing 21 year olds, as that's the age Callahan was at his accident) alongside the essential optimism that surfaces once he shrugs off the booze.

As for why Callahan made the darkly funny cartoons that made him famous? Well, this never really digs into why Callahan – a boozehound who became a quadriplegic after a drunken accident – became a cartoonist; it turns out he always had drawing ability but never used it. The shame he felt at being adopted is the reason he gives for his anger and his drinking, but how that shame and anger became comedy remains a mystery.

What we do get a whole lot of is a look at how Alcoholics Anonymous in general, and especially a kooky group of wacky types (led by a blissed-out but 'tough-love' wealthy hippie played by Jonah Hill), helped him straighten out after his accident. Van Sant is a director drawn to this kind of material but he's not great at dramatising it; despite some shouting and insults, much of the group therapy side of things feels generic and rote as Callahan plods through all twelve steps to get his life back on track.

Perhaps it's cynicism, but taking the story of a man who punctured cliche and cheap sentiment and turning it into a feel-good tale of can-do achievement and positive thinking feels like a betrayal of something important, even if the intentions were good. In his personal life Callahan may have been a great guy who found a way to face the world with a smile and good cheer, but he was also an artist; this just doesn't seem all that interested in his art. 

- Anthony Morris