‘Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot’ Follows Cartoonist’s Journey from Addiction to Recovery

Alci Rengifo

What does it take to change a person? That is one of the big questions in “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,” which recounts the life of the late cartoonist John Callahan. A party animal who is left paralyzed by a car accident, Callahan remains rambunctious until the end, but also learns from experience and emerges not perfect, but at least a bit more whole. Director Gus Van Sant has always felt comfortable documenting interesting lives, both fiction and nonfiction. From Harvey Milk in “Milk” to a wayward math genius in “Good Will Hunting,” much of his best work is about individuals. Here Joaquin Phoenix delivers a character as memorable for his rough edges as for his talents.

Phoenix plays Callahan, who we see at the beginning of the movie preparing to narrate his life before a live audience. He is already in a wheelchair, with some of his cartoons being projected on a screen. Cut back to the 1970s when Callahan was a hard-drinking wanderer who had been hitting the bottle since his teenage years. One night he makes the poor decision of getting into a car with Dexter (Jack Black), a fellow drunk. The two get into an accident from which Dexter walks away with a few scratches, but Callahan is left permanently paralyzed below the chest. What follows is the hard road of therapy and after drowning himself some more at the bottom of a bottle, a shot at AA. Callahan makes new friends, including his sponsor, Donnie (Jonah Hill), and a flight attendant who might just love him, Annu (Rooney Mara). Once Callahan begins to take up drawing, he finds a perfect release, and a fame he never dreamed of.

“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” avoids feeling like a retread to every other film about overcoming adversity or trauma because it approaches its subject in such a stripped down manner. Van San is not trying to coax you into crying and his screenplay is not structured like a pity party. He tells Callahan’s story in sections which provide a real portrait of a person. While his life becomes a journey, his character essentially remains the same. Callahan has a compulsion to defy authority and be stubborn, even his first AA group session turns into a shouting match where another attendee makes it clear everyone has scars. Dramatically this is all engaging because the people feel so true, and Callahan himself is an interesting personality. Like the book, the film has all the warts and is honest about how for many addicts, recovery has little to do with romanticism or pep talks, it is an effort to balancing one’s life and escaping from the grip of a habit. There is a running theme in the movie about Callahan searching for his estranged mother, and Van Sant weaves this narrative with a beautiful subtly, hinting that indeed, we sometimes seek escape with intoxicants to silence hurtful things in our minds.

One of the great tricks pulled off in the film is how eventually we forget about the wheelchair. The film is not about Callahan’s accident, but about his recovery as an alcoholic. Another director might have focused more on the therapy sessions, the struggle to walk, etc., but the heart of the narrative is how in any state, individuals survive addiction with many determining factors. In a strange way there are reminders here of Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July,” where Tom Cruise played Ron Kovic, who was paralyzed in Vietnam. That too was not a film about the paralysis, but the greater theme of war and nationalist slogans. “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” is about the forging of an artist, without the grandiosity of a huge biopic. When he starts drawing his cartoons, Callahan finds his eloquence, whether through wicked satire or goofy humor. At times Van Sant intercuts the drama with animations of Callahan’s cartoons, a favorite being a famous piece using evolution as a riff. A series of prehistoric creatures emerge from the sea, grow into early man and culminating in a well-dressed chap receiving an award and saying, “I’d like to thank all those who made it possible for me to be here tonight.” As the film progresses, we realize the deeper meaning behind that drawing, because Callahan, like most people, is a work in progress with various characters helping him along the way.

As a filmmaker Van Sant has been a director of eclectic styles ranging from focused drama to deep experimentation. He has never been prone to bombastic, loud gestures, even his 2003 Palm d’Or winner “Elephant,” inspired by the Columbine massacre, moved with a serene, eerie pace. When he chronicles larger than life characters he manages to pull performances from actors that give the film its energy, like Sean Penn in “Milk” or Matt Damon in “Good Will Hunting.” Here Joaquin Phoenix plays the tricky role of a man who is a firecracker, and is then physically subdued. But even paralyzed, Callahan remains a natural rebel, talking a nurse into letting him perform oral sex, determined to find his mother, scoffing at those who are offended by his cartoons. He revels in having older readers of the publications that run his work attack him in public. Yet Phoenix also adds some wonderful touches of vulnerability to the character, revealing how a lot of his impulsive behavior is also a band aid for insecurities. For what artist is fully devoid of insecurities? Jonah Hill as Donnie also creates a character so well, Hill himself is lost for the entire film. Donnie is a rich kid who seems bored with wealth, yet is sincere and kind. For once Callahan has a true friend who actually cares. Roonie Mara’s Annu is also interesting, although a bit underused. She brings a maturity to Callahan’s life that he is able to appreciate after the crucible of the accident.

“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” is an excellent drama about an adult life that begins with a drinking binge, then ends in creative visions of drawn humor. John Callahan’s life becomes one of the most interesting recent portraits of an artist’s journey. But the beauty of Van Sant’s approach is that he brings it down to earth, because every life is a hard road traveled.

“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” releases July 13 in select theaters.