'Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot' A Review

Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot is a biopic about Portland based cartoonist John Callahan(Joaquin Phoenix) and his struggles with alcoholism. The narrative has a non-linear structure using the convention of John's support group lead as a focal point which is flashbacked from. The film jumps from his drunken accident which left him wheelchair bound, his physical rehabilitation, and his process in recovery.

Phoenix is always assured and committed but this performance is more breezy, tender, and at times petulant than is his norm. There is little of his usually frenetic wincing and he conveys the emotional journey of an addict in recovery with an honesty "sober stories" rarely accurately depict. Jonah Hill as Donnie does his best and is passable but the affectation he takes on doesn't quite work. Jack Black in a supporting role that is almost an two-part cameo gives one of the most electric turns in the film with the second of his two appearances, an amends scene with Phoenix, easily being the film's best and a best of the year contender because of it's absolutely magnetic rawness and authenticity. Mara as John's love interest Annu is given little to do with even less character dimension.

The one thing the film gets extremely right is recovery but the other elements are relatively bland. It's a quiet film but at times it is so quiet it becomes inaudible. Visually the film has no style, the colors are washed out, there is no sense of urgency or momentum in the edit, and the non-linear format actually serve to disperse any narrative tension rather than build it.

An Amazon Studios film that is presumably the format for which it was intended to be viewed.

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