Welcome to Marwen

2018 movie from the director of Forrest Gump

Rating: 8/20

Plot: The same as the superior documentary Marwencol, only with more animation.

The last time Robert Zemeckis did this to a documentary that I loved, I resisted but finally gave The Walk a chance and thought it was one of the most underrated movies of the last five years. I'm still not sure it justified its existence, but it told the story well with enough heart and suspense to make it worth a watch.

I can't say the same about this effort. Mark Hogancamp's story is told so much better in Marwencol, and from the first animated frame to the really silly Back to the Future references to the film's final shots, this seems like a complete misstep. There are early tone issues that continue throughout, and I'm never really sure as a viewer what's supposed to be funny here and what's not. I'm sure the animated parts seemed like a cute enough idea on paper, but they really add nothing to this character. Or maybe I should say that while they do give a little insight into Hogancamp's mind, how he views the women around him, and the personal conflicts he's dealing with, they kind of stop giving new insight after a while and just seem like they're just taking up space. It probably didn't help that the animated parts reminded me of those creepy Barbie movies my daughter used to make me watch with her. The best part of the animated parts might be the humorous dialogue and one-liners (cow-lateral damage is a personal fave), but it got to the point where it would transition to another animated action scene in Hogancamp's fictional town and I'd just groan.

Other than clumsy, too-obvious music cues referencing the main character's mental struggles (Patsy Cline's "Crazy" is the worst offender) or dreams/imagination, the worst thing about this movie is that the focus is all wrong. Emphasis is put on Hogancamp's eccentricities, his mental disorder, and his love of high heels instead of where it should have been placed--the man's photography. Sure, the artistic side is there, but too often it feels like we're being told, "Look at what a weirdo this Hogancamp fellow is. And oh, by the way, he also takes nice pictures. But seriously, look at how weird he is!" Far too often, it feels like the screenplay is wanting us to laugh at Hogancamp rather than really understand him.

Steve Carell isn't very good in this. He probably went into this thinking it was his Gump, but with dialogue as asinine as this, he really had no hope.

My biggest laugh was when Carell and his neighbor (Leslie Mann) are having a conversation about his favorite actress, Susie St. John, a porn star played by a Zemeckis. "Oh, I haven't seen it," Mann says. Again, I'm not totally sure that's supposed to be funny. I really had a tough time with that.

Definitely see Marwencol if you haven't already done that. You can skip this.