Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot Is Erratic And Messy But Also Frequently Affecting

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot, the newest motion picture from director Gus Van Sant, looks to separate itself from conventional biopic dramas in a number of ways, most notably in its adoption of a non-linear form of storytelling to tell the tale of John Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix), a man dealing with alcoholism who loses the ability to walk after a horrific car accident. We flash forward and backward throughout Callahan's adult life as the feature covers numerous events in the man's adult life, most notably him adapting to the process of regularly attending an AA group led by Donnie Green (Jonah Hill) as well as Callahan discovering his talent for drawing humorous though frequently controversial cartoons.


Telling the story in this unusual manner has its perks and detractions, but kudos to Gus Van Sant (who penned the screenplay) for trying something so overtly different here, the audacity on display here is certainly admirable and allows this telling of Callahan's life to cover numerous points of its real-life subjects life in an organic manner compared to other narratively straightforward biopic dramas that struggle with how to cram in so many real-life events into one feature. Various lovely small touches like a recurring framing device depicting Callahan at various stages of coping with his addiction giving some kind of public speech also stem from this unorthodox narrative decision.

Of course, leapfrogging around time does create some problems for Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot, namely in how certain plot elements or visual touches tend to vanish for extended periods of time in a manner that feels more sloppy rather than intentional. For instance, there's this clever recurring fixture wherein animated versions of Callahan's doodles reflect the characters internal feelings that vanishes for the middle portion of the film and is sorely missed when it's gone. Callahan also has an issue with figuring out the identity of his unknown mother that occasionally results in some interesting emotional moments (mostly due to Phoenix's performance), but it keeps coming and going in the plot to the point that it never really sticks with the viewer and it manages to involve a poorly handled ghostly moment that feels like one of the few unconventional elements of the motion picture that just doesn't work at all.

Perhaps worst of all in the writing is a love interest character for John Callahan named Annu (Rooney Mara) who never once feels like a human being. She enters the movie reassuring Callahan he's someone special and destined for greatness and remains this kind of unrealistic angelic presence afterward in her erratically scattered appearances throughout the rest of the movie. Annu especially stands out as a poorly written figure due to how Gus Van Sant's script here usually excels in rendering the various people in John Callahan's story as human beings, particularly those in his AA group. It could have been easy as pie to just boils down the other figures he meets here into just one-note caricatures, but there are complexities to be found in these guys and gals who are, like Callahan, trying to get control of their demons.

These well-realized characters makes the scenes of Callahan in his AA meetings the best scenes in Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot, with such segments delivering memorable pieces of humor (Udo Kier's characters reaction to one member reciting his penis-filled poem had me in stitches) but far more often there's a quietly powerful quality to these sequences that stems from the frank dialogue that cuts everyone's problems right to the bone. There's no BS to be found in the interactions in these meetings and it's gripping to watch how Gus Van Sant depicts a guy like Callahan, who is always running away from his problems, being forced to confront his own issues. 

Such scenes also make great use of a totally out-of-nowhere performance from Jonah Hill as a chillaxed leader. Hill's so charmingly easygoing that you become super invested in his character without even realizing it, which is good since much of the third act centers on tragedy befalling his character. In the most unexpected turn of events since water was revealed to be wet, Joaquin Phoenix provides a marvelous performance as Callahan, man can this guy create believable humanity in roles that could have easily been one-note stereotypes, while Jack Black, showing up in only two pivotal scenes, is impressively believable as a tragically pivotal figure in Callahan's life. Gus Van Sant's directing of the largely strong performances and his unusual approach to telling the tale of John Callahan are the highlights of Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot, a movie that's scattered and messy but has its fair share of admirable qualities.