The latest from Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho, Drugstore Cowboy, Milk, etc.), Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot follows Portland artist John Callahan (played by Joaquin Phoenix) from his hard-partying days, through a drunken accident that leaves him mostly paralyzed, to his kicking alcohol and becoming a much-loved and much-hated cartoonist. Callahan used his comics to make fun of living with a disability, religion, intolerance, and macabre subjects that ended up offending pretty much everyone by the end.
Even after the car crash that injured his spinal cord at 21, he didn’t stop his heavy drinking, and his life continued to be chaotic. He eventually finds a group of recovery misfits to help him on his journey to get sober. The group is led by a Lao Tzu–quoting gay alcoholic (Jonah Hill, going full-on Gregg Allman), and includes a self-professed mouthy hick (Beth Ditto) and a blonde housewife who just can’t take it anymore (Kim Gordon).
The true story (based on Callahan’s book by the same name) is an affecting one that doesn’t dismiss the hardships of being a quadriplegic or trying to turn your life around. Phoenix has an appealing charm (especially in his ’80s eyeglasses and velour shirts) playing a difficult person with serious issues (hardcore alcoholism, emotional problems) who has to deal with some very hard circumstances and decides to take control of his life on his own terms.
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See Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot at the Seattle International Film Festival Closing Night Gala on Sunday, June 10, 6 p.m., at SIFF Cinema Egyptian. Writer/director Gus Van Sant, Joaquin Phoenix, and Beth Ditto are scheduled to attend. The screening will be followed by a party at MOHAI.