- Actors: Woody Harrelson, Shaun Brown, Brett Gelman, Sandy Oian, James Robert Miller
- Disc Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
- Dubbed: French, Spanish
- Region: Region A/1
- Rated: R
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Release Date: June 20, 2017
- Run Time: 95 minutes
Wilson, the title character embodied by actor
Woody Harrelson in this dark independent comedy, exists above the formulaic
aspects of the narrative. Grumpy and prone to angry rants against the state of
humanity, Wilson
is also lonely and often breaks all social boundaries in order to make
connections with any random person he encounters, making him a contradiction of
personality quirks. And yet it all somehow works, and Harrelson is able to
flesh the man out in a way that feels sincere, even if the film that this
character exists in often has even less of an idea what to do with him than the
strangers he encounters. In the end, this feels like a comedic character study
lacking clear direction, and as a result it often reaches for formulaic
resolution to unique set-ups.
Harrelson’s Wilson is a middle-aged
neurotically unfiltered man who bounces back-and-forth between bitterness for
where he has ended up in life and a surprising childlike wonder for the simple
pleasures of human contact. The contradiction of Wilson is that he is cynical and morbid while
simultaneously capable of finding joy in the simplest of pleasures, in a way
that can often only be described as misguided optimism. This incongruity in
character carries through in his actions, because despite being a recluse, Wilson is often the one
reaching out to those around him.
After seeing him
try and connect (often unsuccessfully) with anyone he comes across in his daily
life, Wilson
makes an effort to find his troubled ex-wife, Pippi (Laura Dern). Having
disappeared on him over seventeen years earlier, Pippi is just starting to get
her life back together after a long period of drug addiction and other
questionable choices. Wilson
is under the impression that Pippi had gotten an abortion shortly after leaving
him, but she informs him that their child was adopted instead. This leads Wilson on a misguided
attempt to reunite the family he never had by tracking down their biological
daughter, Claire (Isabella Amara).
Although based on Daniel Clowes’
graphic novel, who also adapted the screenplay, Wilson
suffers many of the same problems as director Craig Johnson’s previous film, The Skeleton Twins. While the narratives
provide showcases for the actors to play unconventional roles, there is a lack
of focus and tonal imbalance in trying to figure out what to do with the flawed
characters. Even with a familiar set-up in the plot, Wilson
often feels episodic rather than committing to an examination of a singular
scenario, jumping the story forward whenever the screenplay gets stuck. Even
though Harrelson impresses in the role, his work often feels wasted in a movie
that never matches his uniqueness.
The Blu-ray release for Wilson
comes with a DVD and Digital HD copy of the film, which is competently made
without ever really needing the extra benefits brought by high definition
presentation. The discs themselves also come with special features, which
include a few featurettes, deleted scenes, and a photo gallery from the
production. All three of the featurettes are brief promotional videos, less
than two-minutes in length. “Who is Wilson?”
dives into the title character, while “The Women of Wilson” looks at the
various female characters that share his universe, and “Strip to Screen” briefly
examines the effort to adapt Clowes’ cult work.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 4/10
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