WILSON – Review

This week sees another comic book adaptation arrive at movie theatres, while the Lego Batman and Logan are still pulling audiences in at the multiplex. Ah, but this film is not another superhero slugfest (we’ll have three more of those from Marvel Studios, and two from Warner/DC by the year’s end). No this comes from the “upper classes” of illustrated narratives, those “serious and somber” graphic novels (kind of a “highfalutin'” moniker). Several prestige flicks have been based on such books, like THE HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and THE ROAD TO PERDITION (both earned Oscar noms). The “graphic artist” (hey, I’ll bet he’d prefer cartoonist) behind this new film is no stranger to cinema. Matter of fact, this is his third feature-length movie adaptation. The first was my personal favorite flick of 2001, the quirky GHOST WORLD (no ectoplasmic apparitions, but a teenage Scarlett Johansson). Five years later ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL was released, a very authentic take on art college derailed by an odd out of place murder mystery. Now, more than ten years later, another Daniel Clowes film is finally here. And hey smart guy, it’s not another big screen bio of our 28th prez. This springs from the acclaimed 2010 book WILSON.
We meet the title character (Woody Harrelson) at the start of a typical day. He wakes up in his run-down, filled with dusty books apartment and sees that his beloved terrier has made a mess in the kitchen. He then takes his pooch for a walk though his urban neighborhood (Wilson seems to have to no discernible employment). Along the way he taunts a woman who speaks to his dog and a young man writing on his laptop outside a coffee shop. Then the bad news phone call occurs. His aged father is dying, so Wilson hops on a train (and annoys a passenger trying to sleep), and visits his comatose papa in the hospital. Oh, before the trip he leaves his pup with a sweet, bright-eyed “pet sitter” friend named Shelly (Judy Greer). When dad passes, Wilson is distraught and wonders if he will die alone. This is hammered home when his best (and maybe only) pal Robert (Brett Gelman) inform him that he’s moving his family to a distant town (Wilson’s rant about the place is really stinging, but funny). After trying to reconnect with an old school buddy, Wilson, after a disastrous pet store incident, decides to re-enter the dating scene. Sharing stories with Alta (Margo Martindale) over ice cream, Wilson talks about his ex-wife who dove into substance abuse (and possible prostitution) after leaving him and aborting their baby. Surprisingly, Alta tracks her down with a few clicks on her cell phone. It’s road trip time again as Wilson invades the life of his ex, Pippi (Laura Dern), who has cleaned up her act and started over as a waitress at an upscale restaurant. She’s not too happy to see him, but as the ice thaws she casually mentions that she did not abort their child, and instead gave the daughter up for adoption. Wilson dashes off to a low rent private eye and tracks down the child, now a 17 year-old named Claire (Isabella Amara). His goal is now clear, so he drags Pippi off to the posh suburbs to meet and hopefully bond with their long-lost daughter. What could possibly go wrong?

Of course this lil’ indie’ is a true showcase for the endearingly eccentric Harrelson. Wilson is the role he’s been building toward since his days behind that Boston bar. He’s following a long line of movie and TV grumps and grouches, going back to Wallace Beery and W.C. Fields to Walter Matthau and Larry David (even the Seymour character played by Steve Buscemi in Clowes’s GHOST WORLD). And many will compare Mr. H with that other Woody (not the woodpecker, but Mr. Allen). Sure Harrelson’s doing the surly intellectual, but there’s an aggressive unpredictable, occasionally violent nature to this title character. Seeming to lack any social skills, he has no boundaries, no filter. Without warning he’s in your face, or rather the unfortunate faces who incur his disdain. Harrelson demands our focus in every scene, as we wait for any off-kilter, unbridled bit that can happen at any moment, in the most pedestrian of settings. He’s amusing and a bit endearing, although Wilson would be exhausting to deal with in real life (and he actually calls someone else “toxic” at one point).

But the movie’s not entirely the “cranky Luddite show” (Wilson can’t stand tech). Harrelson shares the screen with two superb actresses who navigate very complex roles. As Pippi, Dern shows us a woman who thought she had escaped from her past. When Wilson suddenly appears, she’s like a cat trapped in a corner with every escape route blocked. Then Dern slowly starts to warm up, with the look of love slowly returning to her eyes. It’s as though Pippi finally recalls the reason she fell for this misfit. She tries to stop the ambush on her daughter, but Dern subtlety shows us that Pippi, despite her protests, wants to see how her child has grown. Speaking of the daughter (and misfits), the gifted Ms. Amara portrays a high-schooler that’s closer to reality than most that spring from those “young adult” book-based models. She’s tough and snarky like her pop, but we see her vulnerable side. Though Claire seems to brush off the “haters”, she’s still hurt and feels alone. Her adoptive parents have given her every material need, but she truly feels an emotional connection with Wilson and Pippi. The rest of the cast is populated by terrific comic actors from the big and small screen. Martindale shines as Wilson’s impromptu date and investigator (her Alta is worth her own film). Geer is an endearing ray of light in Wilson’s clouded life, she’s a buoyant new-age pixie. Lauren Weedman is hysterical as Wilson’s “pick-up” paramour at the pet store (her exasperated grimace is priceless). She’s not as aggravated at him as much as Mary Lynn Rajskub as Robert’s “had it up to here” wife (talk about reading somebody “the riot act”). Also memorable is David Warshofsky’s unhinged hysteria as Wilson’s grade school chum Olsen (“So, that’s why we never kept in touch”). Oh, and the movie’s got a great villain in Cheryl Hines as the passive aggressive witch queen that is Pippi’s sister Polly. Though she lives in the lap of luxury, Polly truly enjoys slithering through the mud and striking back at her sis.

Director Craig Johnson (THE SKELETON TWINS) keeps the film coasting along at a relaxed pace, never distracting us with quick cuts or flashy technique , although showing the passage of time via icicles is pretty great. He knows just when to go from close-up to long-shot in order to capture the awkward vibe of any uncomfortable scene. Clowes’s screenplay from his graphic novel takes several unexpected detours from most standard comedies. But like those flicks, it does lapse into a bit of a lull at the midway point right before a most abrupt change of locale, one most needed to bring about a much needed change in the title character. Finally the man with no real sense of “personal space” must learn consideration and respect for the boundaries of others. Seems that experience more than longevity can be the basis of maturity. Like another graphic novel-based flick, AMERICAN SPLENDOR, love and hope can come to the unlikeliest of folks, even a sour pessimist like WILSON.

3.5 Out of 5