Wilson

A slice of life is how I describe these movies, where one sees the common and mundane in a certain context. Wilson is the story of an average misunderstood man from another time who is shown as hurting and caring but perseveres to try and find meaning in his otherwise drab existence. An average man who, by today's standards, is the bogeyman but as this poster can attest, speaks of an era where people were unique and opinionated instead of self-absorbed and indifferent. I am looking forward to a second viewing to further see the depth of Harrelson's Wilson. And if there are other Clowes/Eightball fans out there who haven't seen Wilson yet, I recommend it. I also hope The Death-Ray and Ice Haven are made into movies.

This movie had me laughing so much I'm gonna have to watch it again because I missed some of the dialog due to not being able to stop laughing. There is a lot of foul language because Woody's character has no filter, and that's part of the humor. Unlike most movies made these days, there's a purpose and method to the language. It's not just foul language for the sake of foul language. Having said that, it's probably best to watch alone, or with someone you know is not sensitive to foul language. Woody does an excellent job with his character, although I get the feeling it wasn't much of a stretch for him. This may be the best I've seen from Woody. Excellent movie!

The definition of a comedy is: a (type of) film, play, or book that is intentionally funny either in its characters or its action. So that be said, I would think Wilson has to make me laugh at least once, or if not a true laugh at least a smile. Well guess what, none of the above occurred. And that's not because I have no sense of humor, not at all, I can pretend I have a pretty good sense of humor. But Wilson is just not funny, not even slightly. If I had to live with somebody like Wilson I would probably beat him up and end in prison. That's how annoying that character is. Extremely annoying but absolutely not funny. The acting is okay though. If they asked Woody Harrelson to play an extremely annoying person then he managed it very well. The story is long and boring, you just wait for the movie to finish, as quick as possible. Will I ever watch this movie again? If I have problems falling asleep maybe.

This is a story about how Woody Harrelson is a jerk, but everyone else is too, and they punch him. This is supposed to elicit sympathy from the audience. When his father dies, he reaches out to ex-wife Laura Dern, because hey, you know, sympathy sex. He discovers that when she had left him, had an abortion and gone into a drug-fueled spiral, she hadn't had an abortion, but had given out the kid for adoption. They track her down, stalk her a bit in a non-threatening manner, and deal with people being jerks and punching Woody Harrelson. Eventually, Dern moves to Australia, Harrelson shacks up with a young, beautiful woman and things turn out well for him, despite the fact that he is still a jerk -- he just doesn't punch anyone. By the standards of this particular Cinematic Universe, this makes him a Good Person Who Deserves All Good Things & Gets Them. In short, this is a bad movie with good performances. There are quirky individuals and snide commentary about how people are jerks, but nothing changes, and you are left with numerous questions about what is going on. How does Wilson live? Why can he take off to go stalk various relatives without worrying about money? Aren't there any adults anywhere? If it weren't for Harrelson's straightforward, oblivious idiocy, this would be unwatchable.

This movie isn't funny. It's uninspiring. It's even depressing. You start this film knowing that the protagonist is going to be full of quirks and an eccentric, socially un-adapted. But in the end he's just sad. There's nothing worth watching in this film. Although Woody is a great actor, as always. It's just not an interesting story.

Wilson (2017) *** Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Isabella Amara, Cheryl Hines, Judy Greer, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Margo Martindale. Harrelson has a field day as a well-intentioned misanthropic man who attempts to rekindle a romance with his ex (Dern) and learning that they have a daughter who he wants very much to be reunited with in spite of his non-filter spillage of whatever's on his mind much to his detriment. Based on Daniel Clowe's graphic novel the film attempts to make such an unpleasant sort, sort of pleasant thanks largely to the wait-and-see-how-this-goes direction by Craig Johnson in allowing the characters to show themselves for who they are, warts and all. Frequently funny and surprisingly tender at times the well-meaning protagonist scores albeit with a prickly defense mechanism that indeed can be grating.