| Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Gus Van Sant |
| Screenplay by | Gus Van Sant |
| Story by |
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| Based on | Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot by John Callahan |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Christopher Blauvelt |
| Edited by |
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| Music by | Danny Elfman |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Amazon Studios |
Release dates |
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Running time | 114 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.5 million[2] |
| Box office | $4.2 million[3] |
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot is a 2018 Americancomedy drama film directed byGus Van Sant and based upon the memoir of the same name byJohn Callahan.[4] The cast includesJoaquin Phoenix,Jonah Hill,Rooney Mara, andJack Black, and follows a recentlyparalyzedalcoholic who finds a passion for drawingoff-color newspaper cartoons.
The film had its world premiere at the2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018, and was released on July 14, 2018, byAmazon Studios.
Based in Portland, alcoholicquadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan is honored for his work. After he introduces himself as an alcoholic, we see the events that led him here.
On the morning before his accident, John wakes up still drunk and hurries to purchase more alcohol so withdrawal would not set in. That evening, he meets Dexter at a party in Long Beach. They leave together in a car and as the night progresses, they get increasingly drunk, intermittently vomiting. They sneak into an amusement park and go to a strip club.
Upon leaving the strip club, Dexter insists on driving, although a bystander points out they both are too impaired. He falls asleep at the wheel and runs into an electrical pole at high speed, causing severe injury to John, who was also asleep. At the hospital, he learns that he is now a quadriplegic.
John comes across several apathetic medical personnel in the hospital, including groups of medical students who periodically pass through and talk about him and others like they are not sentient beings. Finally, he connects withSwedish physical therapist Annu, who treats him there.
John and Annu chat whilst she works on him. He tells her he is desperate to not be paralyzed for life, alternatively praying to God and making pacts with the devil. They discover they have several things in common.
The hospital soon equips John with an electric wheelchair, which gives him back some independence. One night he and a fellow patient go out in their wheelchairs and, on their return to the rehabilitation center, they narrowly miss getting hit by a train.
John was given up for adoption when he was small, and now is very eager to track down his birth mother. One official does find a file on John, but tells him that Oregon law forbids him from reading it. John sees the name Maggie Lynch on the file, but the official is unable to confirm or deny that this is John's mother, leaving John distraught.
John suffers a number of other upsetting events as well. When his electric wheelchair breaks down, he calls the Disability Resource Center for help, but is denied help as they have had cutbacks. This leaves him temporarily unable to get around without help. He also has frequent conflicts with his somewhat apathetic carer, Tim. During one particularly low period, this conflict becomes especially intense and John becomes desperate to drink away his depression. This leads to him having an epiphany through a vision of his birth mother, and he decides to quit drinking. Over time, he is able to get sober with help from hisAlcoholics Anonymous (AA) sponsor, Donnie. At the AA meetings, John learns to be transparent and not to play the victim.
As he proceeds through the 12 Steps of AA, John is inspired to become a cartoonist. He builds a new life and earns money by drawing off-color cartoons for magazines and newspapers. Later, John runs into Annu, who now is a flight attendant. She becomes his girlfriend, and they fall in love.
At AA, John works through his abandonment issues and self-destructive behavior. Just as he reaches the 12th step, Donnie dies ofAIDS. Later John accepts the award that was shown at the beginning of the film.
Initially,Robin Williams (who died four years before the film's release) hadoptioned the book and invited the film's directorGus Van Sant to adapt it.[5][6] On November 29, 2016, it was announced that actorJoaquin Phoenix was teaming with director Van Sant for the biographical film of cartoonistJohn Callahan, based on Callahan's autobiographyDon't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot.[7] Charles-Marie Anthonioz, Mourad Belkeddar, and Nicolas Lhermitte would produce the film for Iconoclast, andSteve Golin forAnonymous Content.[7]
In December 2016,Rooney Mara andJonah Hill joined the cast of the film.[8] Hill considers his performance in the film to be the best of his career.[9] In February 2017,Jack Black joined the cast of the film.[10] In March 2017,Mark Webber and Angelique Rivera joined the cast of the film.[11][12]Principal photography began on March 6, 2017, and concluded on April 6, 2017.[13][14] The film was shot byChristopher Blauvelt.[15]
Amazon Studios distributed the film.[16] It had its world premiere at theSundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018[17][18] and also screened at theBerlin International Film Festival on February 20, 2018.[19] It was scheduled to be released on May 11, 2018,[20] then was pushed back to July 13, 2018.[21]
Onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 77% based on 192 reviews, with an average of 6.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot avoids inspirational biopic clichés thanks to sensitive work from writer-director Gus Van Sant and the admirable efforts of a well-chosen cast."[22] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[23]
David Rooney ofThe Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing: "This unwieldy but consistently enjoyable portrait of paraplegic local hero John Callahan is notable for its generosity of spirit and gentleness".[24] Peter Debruge ofVariety gave the film a positive review, calling it a "life-affirming sweet-and-sour concoction" and writing, "Some will find it entirely too sentimental, others a tad repetitive (Callahan tends to repeat the same stories), but it’s hard to argue with a movie that celebrates the kind of recovery he went through."[25]
Media related toDon't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot at Wikimedia Commons