I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Gus Van Sant's "Don't Worry, He won't get far on foot" is a great telling of about famous cartoonist John Callahan. But this movie follows his journey and his life to getting to becoming a cartooninst. But the movie overall is about this mans life and how crazy and awful it can get at times. (He is a alcohol addicted quadriplegic and it only seems to be getting worse) But the movie shows the how bright and happy it can become too. Joaquin phoenix and Jonah Hill give fantastic performances in the film and the best scenes are when they are together. I saw this movie in a small theater with about 8 other people. This small intimate theater felt perfect for this movie for it felt we were a group being brought together by the movie. We all laugh out loud together and we all cried together. This movie and it's great editing keeps the movie moving at a good pace. Sometimes it can feel slow or have some scenes that seem to go nowhere. But overall I cared for all the characters and opinions even if they were shallow sometimes. This is a great movie (8) that shows one mans life and the obstacles he has to overcome to become happy. Highly recommend.

"Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot" (2018 release; 114 min,) is a bio-pic about quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan. As the movie opens, we see Callahan participating in a support group (we quickly learn it's an AA group). We then go back in time to the day of his accident. "I woke up without a hangover" and then starts a day of binge-drinking. As this point we're 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: this is the latest movie of writer-director Gus Van Sant. Van Sant uses Callahan's auto-biography of the same name as the basis for the film. I've not read that auto-biography so I can't comment how faithful Van Sant has remained to the book. Regardless, the movie should be judged on its own merits, and from that angle, I can unequivocally state that this is a darn good film. Van Sant decides to bring Callahan's story in a non-linear way, and the movie frequently jumps back and forth to various phases of Callahan's life. Of course non of this would matter without the brilliant performance, once again, by Joaquin Phoenix. Is there any role that this guy cannot bring? The supporting cast is quite good too: Jonah Hill (as AA group leader Donnie Green) gives his best performance in quite some time; Rooney Mara (as Swedish nurse Annu) is very charming; and Jack Black (as drinking buddy Dexter) is, well, Jack Black. Beware: AA gets a lot of focus in the film, so if that seems bothersome to you, you may want to check out another movie."Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot" premiered at this year's Sundance film festival to immediate critical acclaim. The movie finally opened at my local art-house theater this weekend. The Saturday matinee screening where I saw this at was attended okay for a matinee. Given the surefire positive of mouth this movie will generate, I can see this playing in theaters for many weeks to come. If you are in the mood for a top-notch quality movie with an even better leading performance, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

Gus Van Sant directs this beautiful film about John Callahan, alcoholic turned cripple turned cartoonist. The heart of this story is truly inspiring. It is deep down a story about the darkness corner of the human spirit, and how through faith we can overcome anything.Van Sant is not a very flashy director. However there is a few questioning choices he made with this film. First off, the structure of the movie is very non linear, especially at the start. This creates a rather jarring experience, and it often results in lessening the impact of what is shown. The film gets more straightforward in the second half and it picks up big time.Another thing that is odd is the manifestation of the protagonist's mother. The effect they chose to fade her face into the frame is simply bad. It just looks awful and the whole scene feels like a stain on the film. Also the film is filled with these weird zoom in shots that looks unappealing. It is something to get use to. It's not that it's a big deal, but it looks strange, and I fail to see the purpose of these zoom in and out.Beside these few issues, Van Sant mostly lay low and let the actors act, and they do it beautifully. At this point it is not a surprise to anyone, but Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic in this. He elevates the material to tear jerking and meaningful. He just becomes the character. Between this and You Were Never Really Here, he is guaranteed to be nominated. Jonah Hill proves again that he is a true artist with a single scene near the ending of the film. Before that he owns every scene he has, especially the first time Callahan meets him. He has this sincere goodness and nonchalance about his character. He really nails it.Jack Black is also great in the film. At first it seems that he is just playing his usual funny dude character, but later in the film he has a great emotional scene. Although it is very short he just shows a whole new side of him.Rooney Mara's performance is also great, but her character is somewhat problematic. When she first arrives, she is just like an angel, beautiful, caring and funny. It is just hard to believe that she actually exists in this universe. I understand that she helps greatly Callahan to keep faith, so that might be why she is so pretty, and charming and innocent, but it still feels like she is out of place in the film. Not her fault though.Even though the first half suffered a bit from weird editing and jumping around a lot in time, the second half made up for it. It is more than a simple drama, it becomes meaningful. The pain that Callahan feels is so relatable. After watching him go through everything he did, and knowing that he truly existed, it just inspired me to be better. To conquer my own pain and torment and to just accept who I am as a person. It is not often that a film provoke such an emotional reaction out of me. Also I nearly cried twice, which is even more unusual. Overall this is a great movie that dealt brilliantly with the theme of overcoming our pain and suffering no matter how insurmountable it seems.Rating: 8/10

I found it to be a strangely dark comedy. Or rather it was funny despite the subject manner.So technically a true story about a man named John Callahan who was an alcoholic and became paralyzed in a car accident because of his addiction to the bottle, but ends up living his best life due to his involvement with alcoholics anonymous.So maybe not so dark now that I think about it as the story was uplifting and inspiring.Joaquin Phoenix was a pleasure to see on the screen. Very lively and believable as a man chasing some demons, but keeping his sense of humor and positive attitude.And we needed that liveliness as some of the 12 steps in the movie were not that flush out as well as others.Gus Van Sant's ability to do such a serious content and give it to us in a humorous way makes for an Impressive film.