Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot

Based on a true story, Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot follows 1970s cartoonist John Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix) as a car crash leaves him paralyzed from the waist down – with the loose narrative detailing John’s subsequent efforts at going sober and cleaning up his life. There’s certainly no denying the inherent familiarity of the movie’s well-worn storyline, and yet, for the most part, filmmaker Gus Van Sant does an effective job of putting an erratic yet often engrossing spin on the material – with the captivating opening stretch, which details the events leading up to John’s paralysis, certainly ensuring that the picture gets off to an exceedingly promising start. It’s equally apparent, however, that the decidedly episodic bent of Van Sant’s script paves the way for a somewhat hit-and-miss midsection, with the film’s meandering atmosphere generally alleviated by both the uniformly superb performances and a smattering of admittedly compelling sequences (eg John makes amends with the figure responsible for his life-altering injury). Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot, then, comes off as a actor’s showcase that fares better than most, ultimately, as Phoenix’s consistently mesmerizing turn as the sympathetic protagonist goes a long way towards compensating for the movie’s periodic missteps – which cements its place as one of Van Sant’s best and most entertaining efforts in quite some time.

*** out of ****