The mysteries of the human brain have fascinated filmmakers (and filmgoers) since the earliest days of cinema. Of course, the subject has been fodder for countless horror and science fiction films with variations on iconic literature works such as Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr, Hyde. These also inspired comedies such as THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS and THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, among others. But there have also been several fact-based, or “inspired by real events” films centering on brain diseases and injuries, exploring how catastrophic trauma affects those individuals. CONCUSSION from 2015 dramatized the very real cases of veteran football players who took hits to the head that caught up to them years later. Then there are the injuries to the brain that, like a computer keyboard, “pushes the delete button” with delusions and fantasy replacing the horrific memories. That’s exactly what happens to the real man profiled in the new film. But rather than escaping to famous fictional locales like Oz or Pandora, he retreats to a place he created. To paraphrase the great late Rod Serling, “There’s the signpost up ahead”, proclaiming WELCOME TO MARWEN.
The story begins as a WWII bomber makes a rough landing, nearly engulfing the pilot in flames. As “Cap’n Hogie” jumps clear we see that he is actually a doll (sorry, action figure) who walks and talks on his own. As are the gang of Nazi soldiers that ambush him. Luckily Hogie has “back up’, a quartet of beautiful female resistance fighters who mow down the “goose-steppers”. Suddenly they freeze as we hear a click. Zooming out we see that the toys are being positioned and photographed by a man, Mark Hogancamp (Steve Carell) in the field outside his upper New York state home, next to the miniature city of Marwen, Belgium that he’s constructed. A moving van at the house across the street has ruined his shot. Luckily the new neighbor is a lovely single lady named Nicol (Leslie Mann), yes no “e”. We learn Mark’s backstory by the photos and scrapbook inside his home. And that’s all he has left to recall his past life, the life before a gang of thugs (one had a swastika arm tattoo) beat him so badly outside the local bar, the Avalanche, that Mark lost his memories, his artistic abilities (he was an artist on WWII comic books) and had to learn to walk once more. Photos from the hospital stay show an Iraqui war vet, GI Julie (Janelle Monae) guiding him through rehab. The quiet is soon disrupted by Mark’s visiting nurse, the load forceful Russian woman named Anna (Gwendoline Christie). The rest of the day Marks divides between visiting the local hobby shop run by Roberta (Merritt Wever) who orders the special WWII models and figures for him, then returning to the Avalanche where he works as a janitor and helps the chef Carlala (Eiza Gonzalez), who aided him on that fateful night. He’s also preparing for an art show of his toy photos that Roberta has set up for him in an NYC gallery, as his attorney implores him to attend the sentencing hearing of his attackers so that he may read a victim’s statement. As the pressures build, Mark spends more time in the make-believe world of Marwen where he’s the heroic Hogie and all the above-named women are his fighting pals (just pals, though). As he becomes friends with Nicol, she also joins the adventures, but more than a pal. But the sinister sorceress Dejah (Diane Kruger) threatens Hogie’s new love. As the court date looms, can Mark break away from his fantasy and finally face the reality of his new life, and perhaps start over with Nicol?
With superb work most recently in BEAUTIFUL BOY and VICE, Carell has proved himself equally adept at both drama and comedy, so he’d seem a natural for this role which combines plenty of both. As Capn’ Hogie he gets to parody the square-jawed dashing hero of many a TCM marathon. Mark requires a delicate touch showing his vulnerability, while also portraying his struggle to overcome the many physical and mental challenges stemming from the vicious assault. Carell shows us his frustrations which can either shut all his emotions down (doing his art, he seems to enter another sensory plane) or cause him to panic and revert to “flight” mode. Outside of Marwen, Carell even gives Mark a charming suitor stance as he opens up to the understanding Nicol. Mann, working with Carell for the first time since 2005’s THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, has a sweet relaxed chemistry with him making for several natural quiet moments. But for all her welcoming qualities, Nicol is still a mystery. With the help of some photos and furnishings, Mann shows us that Nicol has also dealt with tragedy as she faces the future with hope and optimism. Unfortunately, the other fine actresses don’t have roles written as intriguing as her. Two time Emmy winner Wever tries to make the determined Roberta compelling, but she becomes the too accommodating doormat to Mark, who degrades her in his fantasy world (somehow her blouse is always torn). Two up and coming talents, Gonzalez and Monae have very little to do outside of Marwen (the later is only in human form for a few seconds). Then there’s the dazzling Kruger, who alternates between silky temptress and shrieking harpy as the witchy Dejah (and why does she share a name with Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Princess of Mars in the John Carter series).
Director of many classic film fantasies, Robert Zemeckis, tries to meld the fable and reality with wildly uneven results. After a few years respite, he returns to motion-capture (mo-cap) technology (THE POLAR EXPRESS, BEOWULF, and A CHRISTMAS CAROL) for the zippy, inventive WWII sequences which feel like a Rankin/Bass TV special based on Marvel’s “Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos” comics. The faces feel so alive while retaining that sculpted plastic sheen as their “ball and socket” joined arms and legs flail about and grip all manner of weapons as their stitched clothing flaps in the wind. They look especially great as they jump to life-size in a nifty courtroom battle scene. Ah, but the real world is not nearly as slick and fun, or…interesting. Without allowing us to get to know the pre-attack Mark, he’s fairly one-note. The script from Zemeckis and Caroline Thompson seems more content with making him a martyr, punished for his clothing quirks (ala’ ED WOOD). The attempts at pathos become mawkish and eventually dull. And what does Dejah really represent? His fears? Society’s hate toward misfits? And in a perplexing scene, she is tied into a clumsy “call back” to Zemeckis’s greatest movie triumph (as they say in that flick, “That’s heavy, Doc”). The whole thing just lurches and lumbers from one set piece to the next until it just skids and comes to a thudding halt. Maybe its documentary source MARWENCOL makes more sense because WELCOME TO MARWEN is more of a dull dramatic dead end.
2 Out of 5
