‘Swiss Army Man,’ Featuring Daniel Radcliffe as a Flatulent Corpse, Is Utterly Unique and Profound

Allyson Gronowitz

Known colloquially as “Daniel Radcliffe’s farting corpse movie,” “Swiss Army Man” is that and much more. Written and directed by Daniel Scheinert and Dan Kwan (credited as “The Daniels”), “Swiss Army Man” is both earnest and absurd, using honest-to-God raunchy humor to convey deeply poignant, achingly philosophical messages about life, loneliness and love.

The marooned Hank (Paul Dano from “Little Miss Sunshine” and “There Will Be Blood”) has given up all hope of rescue until a bloated corpse named Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) washes ashore and sparks Hank’s will to live. Hank quickly overcomes his disgust of the corpse’s persistent flatulence – beggars can’t be choosers – and is both desperate for company and slightly delusional. He sings to himself after hauling the body back to his shelter: “Crazy, I’m fucking crazy, maybe I’ll make it alone . . . .” It’s a line that sums up one of the key takeaways from the film: We’re all a little crazy, we’re all a little weird, but we can’t make it alone. That’s when so-called corpse “wakes up” and as Hank teaches the childlike Manny about the outside world, the two embark on a bromance for the ages.

The brilliance of “Swiss Army Man” is that its profundity and silliness exist side by side, and in fact, are often one and the same. Manny farts a lot but the flatulence morphs into a grand metaphor about our tragic inability to connect with other people. Manny wonders why Hank doesn’t fart in front of him, and Hank replies, “People don’t like other people’s farts . . . . People hold it in.” Manny’s blank stare seems to droop. “That’s so sad!” he says.

This conflation of the melancholy and the bizarre is explained by Daniel Kwan in the press notes: “We’re terrified of the emotional shit so we bury it in absurdity and the things we love.” “Swiss Army Knife” does just that, implementing fart jokes, poop jokes and even masturbation jokes.

With the help of Manny’s body – which, it turns out, can also produce drinking water and launch projectiles from his mouth – a rejuvenated Hank constructs a microcosm of the outside world using trash and ingenuity to build a clubhouse, a movie theater and a city bus that carries the love of his life. Even the jubilant, free-spirited soundtrack, composed by Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull and Robert McDowell, reverberates from within Hank and consists of only sounds made by the human body. As Hank constructs the world around him, his story becomes more and more surreal – but it feels more and more real.

Throughout the film, the camaraderie between Hank and Manny reflects the unparalleled dedication of each actor. Dano, one of the indie scene’s most dependable stars, presents a contagious deliriousness. Radcliffe’s roles have run the gamut from “Harry Potter” sequels to horror, but he may have found his niche in comedy; He delivers every single line with pitch-perfect guilelessness even as his (literally) dead-eyed expression never wavers.

“Swiss Army Man” is shameless. At times, it feels grossly indulgent as with the already infamous image of Hank riding Manny’s farting corpse like a jet ski or Manny’s “special compass,” taken straight from the Daniels’ viral “Turn Down for What” music video. But its shamelessness is also its greatest strength, teaching us to embrace the weirdness inside of us – and to just let it all out.

“Swiss Army Man” hits limited theaters June 24 and opens nationwide July 1.