If there's any film genre that's due for a bit of a break it's the "overcoming the odds" biopic about extraordinary individuals battling a debilitating crisis to achieve something great.
Once a shoo-in during awards season, many of these films now come and go from cinemas with a shrug or
an eye-roll. American film-maker Gus Van Sant's latest then, the easy-going, improvisational Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, functions as both a celebration of a wonderful life and as a rebuke of those overly congratulatory, shallow biopics of yore.
Starring Joaquin Phoenix as John Callahan, the famously alcoholic and wheelchair-bound newspaper cartoonist, the film takes a meandering, listless approach to deconstructing the man's life before and after the accident that paralysed him.
It's a joy to watch Phoenix completely transform himself as he assumes the role of the tortured, kooky cartoonist. He's joined by Jonah Hill as Callahan's New Age-y AA sponsor, in a turn that is both acidic and surprisingly kind-hearted. Both performers are truly fantastic, as is a small, revelatory turn by Jack Black as a fellow alcoholic, who wrings big tears out of a tiny number of scenes.
However, the film is pretty standard: man has a problem, problem leads to bigger problems, man learns to overcome problems on his own terms.
