Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot

Gus Van Sant’s biographical comedy-drama about disabled Portland cartoonist John Callahan combines the inspiring quality of his conventional crowd-pleasers such as Good Will Hunting with the looser, more irreverent approach of his smaller independent projects. Sporting a title taken from one of the wheelchair-bound artist’s best-known panels, the film serves up an incisive portrait of a troubled eccentric that manages to be both broadly uplifting and quirkily entertaining, anchored not only by Van Sant’s sensitive screenplay and imaginative direction, but also by a virtuoso lead turn from Joaquin Phoenix. The first part of the film is devoted to Callahan’s early life as a dissolute young alcoholic with a pessimistic outlook. The turning point comes during a raucous night out that ends in a car crash and leaves him a quadriplegic. After a grueling stint in rehab, Callahan returns to his liquor-driven life. But his romance with a beautiful nurse (Rooney Mara) and the discovery that some people enjoy his simple drawings and edgy captions lead him to join an AA group led by a rich sponsor named Donnie (Jonah Hill). Here, Callahan learns to embrace honest introspection as the route to recovery—and earns a degree of fame. Don’t Worry ends on an upbeat note—with a public celebration of Callahan’s work—but this is no simple “be happy” film. Rather, it is a sweet-and-sour profile that recognizes that Callahan’s struggle will persist. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)