Swiss Army Man

Name: Swiss Army Man
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance
Released: June 24, 2016
Duration: 97 min
Rating: 64
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Paul Dano

2016

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 312 Ratings

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7.3

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7.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 312 Ratings

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Swiss Army Man

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Movie Details & Credits

A24 | Release Date: June 24, 2016 | R

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Paul Dano

Summary: Hank (Paul Dano) is stranded on a deserted island, having given up all hope of ever making it home again. But one day everything changes when a corpse named Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) washes up on shore; the two become fast friends, and ultimately go on an epic adventure that will bring Hank back to the woman of his dreams.

Director: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Musical

Rating: R

Runtime: 97 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Empire Chris Hewitt (1)

Sep 26, 2016

The premise sounds like an off-Broadway play gone wrong. Far from it — this is extraordinary, vital, and fuelled by great performances. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Matt Zoller Seitz

Jun 24, 2016

The Daniels have made a film that's at once a labor of love and a work of sheer arrogant nerve, one that is as likely to be described as a classic, an ambitious misfire, and one of the worst films ever made by any three people who see it together. How many movies can you say that about? Read full review

Jeannette Catsoulis

Jun 23, 2016

Impossible to categorize, this stunningly original mix of the macabre and the magical combines comedy, tragedy, fantasy and love story into an utterly singular package that’s beholden to no rules but its own. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Jun 29, 2016

It’s all kind of amusing, and that would be fine but for the fact that the filmmakers offer many openings where they seem to be in search of deeper meaning. Read full review

Peter Travers

Jun 23, 2016

There are times when this mindbending bromance actually achieves a twisted tenderness. There are also times when you'd like to ride Manny's farts to the nearest exit. It's your call. Read full review

Tim Grierson

Feb 1, 2016

Swiss Army Man is a powerfully audacious and wilfully odd odyssey that is too nervy and strangely emotional to dismiss outright but, ultimately, isn’t satisfying enough to provoke a full-throated defence, either. Read full review

Joshua Rothkopf

Feb 1, 2016

A ridiculously infantile film, one that flatters itself by intimating a deeper comment about suppressed masculinity or romantic passivity. Read full review

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User Reviews

Metheepic

Jul 8, 2016

Swiss army man is my favorite movie, only a few hours after I saw it. Its truly magical, one of the most enchanting experiences of my life. I was the only person clapping at the end; this film gave me the courage to think that's okay. This movie is more than good; It changed my life. Watch it.

14 of 17 users found this helpful143

russiangamer

May 8, 2017

Невероятное кино в нестандартной оболочке.
Многие пройдут мимо, заострив внимание на пердеже и шутках про мастурбацию, мол, как это может нравится адекватному человеку. Но за этим скрыто не мало смысла и замечательной драмы, да и для ценителей такого юмора, всё же, реально смешная комедия.Невероятное кино в нестандартной оболочке.
Многие пройдут мимо, заострив внимание на пердеже и шутках про мастурбацию, мол, как это может нравится адекватному человеку. Но за этим скрыто не мало смысла и замечательной драмы, да и для ценителей такого юмора, всё же, реально смешная комедия. Плюсом идёт замечательная актёрская игра и потрясающий саундтрек.
Шедевр, который никогда не будет таковым для всех.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

weirdcryo

Sep 26, 2016

A really beautiful journey, it's weird and really awkward at the beginning but gets charming pretty fast. Great cinematography and even better sound track.
For some reason people complaining about the film have a really childish view of the elements involves, the farts, boner and otherA really beautiful journey, it's weird and really awkward at the beginning but gets charming pretty fast. Great cinematography and even better sound track.
For some reason people complaining about the film have a really childish view of the elements involves, the farts, boner and other "awkward" stuff involved in the film aren't there to make you laugh they are all symbolism.
A really unique thing that more movies should take an example and just try to do something new.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

BrianMcCritic

Oct 4, 2016

Let's give a film credit for its originality while also saying there are some aspects that just don't work. All the performances are great especially Daniel Radcliffe it really takes a unique actor to pull off his role. Overall if you can make it through all the farting there really is anLet's give a film credit for its originality while also saying there are some aspects that just don't work. All the performances are great especially Daniel Radcliffe it really takes a unique actor to pull off his role. Overall if you can make it through all the farting there really is an intriguing film here. One I definitely want to check out again. B+… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

BulgarianCritic

Mar 28, 2020

This movie was bat **** insane and I enjoyed the huge insanity of it.In some parts the humor was bad but this movie confused me and made me cry so I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to watch something new.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

NightReviews

Aug 23, 2016

Going into Swiss Army Man, you cannot help but be prepared for the preposterous narrative at hand. I mean, the narrative is simple, well, kind of simple…well, not really.

The newest film to feature the actor who once played one of the most magical and profitable wizards in the film world,Going into Swiss Army Man, you cannot help but be prepared for the preposterous narrative at hand. I mean, the narrative is simple, well, kind of simple…well, not really.

The newest film to feature the actor who once played one of the most magical and profitable wizards in the film world, seems to have taken another role which would add to his very large attempt of leaping him away, and disassociating himself afar from that world altogether. What better way to do it than play a kinda/sorta dead corpse who farts his way to safety, guides his best friend Hank (Paul Dano) with the use of his erection, and vulgars his dialogue at every instance with the female reproductive system.

Okay so, lets try to get this right, as best as possible.

Swiss Army Man tells the story of Hank, played by Paul Dano, a man who seems to be deserted on an island, with barely any willingness to live. Moments before he is about to kill himself, he sees a body washed upon the shore. Unbuckling the belt tied around his neck, he makes his way to the deceased body. Upon the discovery that the body is in fact dead, he hears the body pop up random farts and sounds, giving the illusion of life at times. Disillusioned by the body altogether, he salvages it and begins using it as a purpose to live.

Dressing the corpse up, talking to it and interacting with it, Hank seems to have found a new purpose, that is until, the body, Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) begins to talk back. In a panic, Hank punches the corpse and runs away. Shortly after, Manny begins inhabiting certain skills and tools needed for Hank’s survival, these skills include; farting fire, slingshotting stuff, axing things, etc. But don’t get it twisted, the body is still dead. As the relationship between Manny and Hank begins to intensify, Hank shares with Manny the truths about women, sex and the world, revolving each and every story around the love of Hank’s life, Sarah (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). As the days pass and the hope for survival begins to become more real, Hank soon realizes that, Manny may just be the soul-mate he has always hoped for and desired.

Going into the film, I could already tell that the movie was going to play quite loosely with one of my most examined and tropes of cinema; augmented reality with reality itself. Just by looking at the trailers, the film blends quite effortlessly the seriousness of a stranded man, with the imagination of a man who creates an entity needed for his survival; Manny essentially becomes the Wilson to Tom Hank’s character in Cast Away. In only difference is, Wilson never spoke back, interacted or physically helped Chuck Nolan to survive. Now, the film is obviously saying a lot and making a huge statement about mental health. Is Hank sick? Is there even a body? What is his relationship with the people outside this island? Who is Sarah to Hank? All these question, although never really fully answered, are given weight towards the understanding of a very, either sick, or extremely passionate man.

One my biggest pet peeves about the use of imagination in cinema is when it tries to justify itself as reality. It really isn’t that hard; any Marvel movie made from this point on, tries to provide some sort of justification how any of the stuff can happen, within the mythos of the cinematic world to the real world. In other films, say, Warcraft for example, the film establishes itself as work of fictions right away. With Swiss Army Man, the film seems to take itself more seriously than it should, mostly at all times. Directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who refer to themselves as DanielS, find this very disturbing and at times, tantalizing mix of making the film extremely believable and at time totally and completely and utterly unbelievable, the embodiment of reality can be found no where yet tries to justify itself as such.

The film itself is ridiculous, outrageous and yes, like many have been calling it, unlike anything you have or will ever see on the silver screen, but for once in my life, I don’t necessarily think that that statement is really a good one. I mean, Hank, who goes from one island to a forestry area by riding his dead corpse friend as a jet-ski; Manny fights off bears, he has a erect penis compass, Manny is a swiss army tool of crazy possibilities and it never really digs deep.

While speaking to others about the reception of the film, it does seem to have a very different response out of everyone who sees it. I mean, after all, the DanielS are the men responsible for the outlandish Turn Down for What music video featuring DJ Snake and Lil Jon, and we all know how funny and ludicrous that video is.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

TitaniumDragon

Sep 23, 2017

Never have I seen a movie more obsessed with farting and masturbation.

This is a weird, weird movie, which I think you might have guessed from the trailer. Where this movie fails is in its pacing. This is a very, very slow-paced movie, despite being quite short. The first 20 minutes or soNever have I seen a movie more obsessed with farting and masturbation.

This is a weird, weird movie, which I think you might have guessed from the trailer. Where this movie fails is in its pacing. This is a very, very slow-paced movie, despite being quite short. The first 20 minutes or so of the movie are consumed by the main character talking to himself and an inexplicably useful corpse; it takes until a good bit into the movie for the corpse to start talking back. From there, things get increasingly weird as the corpse, lacking human memories, has to have everything explained to it, which takes a turn towards the perverse, showing just what sorts of thing the living protagonist has on their mind.

Alas, the weirdness is not really enough to carry the movie through its slow pacing; very little actually happens, and while the trailer makes it look like the corpse's special abilities are going to be used a great deal, most of the things that the corpse ultimately does are actually *in* the trailer. Thus, while the movie sells itself on that strange premise, a lot of the movie is really about the shy protagonist struggling to demonstrate his personal value as, well, a person, via explaining what life is like to the talking corpse.

While the movie does pick up a bit from its initial very slow pacing, it never stops being very weird and full of bathroom humor - farts play a major role in the movie, as do erections, and the characters bond a bit while talking about masturbation. This, combined with the general slow pacing, ultimately proved extremely offputting to me, and while the movie tries to go for an emotional payoff with some of the twists at the end, the movie as a whole doesn't really feel coherent. Is it a comedy? Yes, sort of. Is it a drama? Also yes, sort of. But it never really manages to pull off either - I never laughed at the movie, and often ended up cringing instead, while the drama felt kind of generic, without any particularly interesting spin on it - the protagonist is a loser who doesn't really seem to be proactive about making his life better, why should we care?

In the end, I suspect that people who enjoy cringe comedies might get something out of this, but if cringey humor, farting, erections, and discussions about masturbation put you off, this is not the movie for you.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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