Wilson
2 out of 5
Wilson hits theaters this week, starring Woody Harrelson. There’s no way it can compete with the big ticket movies on the screens — but I decided to go to this movie in hopes that I’d find a hidden gem amongst the giants. I missed — and so did this movie.
Woody Harrelson is usually a very likeable character — even when he’s playing a scheming has been in movies like “Kingpin,” or a lovable loser in “White Men Can’t Jump.” But in this movie there are only flashes of that character that is the “triumph of the uncluttered mind” hero we’ve become accustomed to. Instead, he plays a guy completely oblivious to anything else in the world — within the exception of his own failures, dislikes and eventual desperate attempts to recapture the past.
The film starts with Wilson (Harrelson) narrating how he is a relic in the new world. He doesn’t like technology, he doesn’t necessarily like people — and often starts conversations with them just to spite them, or shock them out of their comfort zone, and as a result — he’s alone. All of this loneliness begins his journey to re-connect with the past as he pines for he ex-wife, Pippi, played by Laura Dern.
After calling his former sister-in-law, Wilson finds Pippi, who informs him that she had a daughter, whom she gave up for adoption not long after she left him. Wilson is beyond happy, as he thought Pippi had an abortion. This begins another journey to find the daughter he didn’t know he had. After a humorous trip to a terrible private detective, it isn’t long before the reunited couple are stalking their long lost daughter, and force their way into her life. Pippi, who is desperate to prove to her sister and family that she has gotten her life together, agrees with Wilson to basically kidnap their daughter and visit said family to show off just how great their family life is. It doesn’t go well, and Wilson is essentially left to the wolves by both his daughter and his ex-wife for a short stay in prison.
Upon his release, he begins a relationship with his former dog sitter and tries again to connect with his daughter. Once again things don’t go well, and Wilson is left wondering where exactly he fits into the world. But then, as if the writers got bored with the script and the story, Wilson’s daughter decides to allow him to be a part of her life again — as she gives birth to a son. Bang. End of movie.
Don’t get me wrong there are vintage Woody Harrelson scenes (such as the scene you see on the movie poster with him talking to a man at a urinal), and for the most part he plays the character very well — it’s just you never root for him. And when you do — he does something stupid to turn you against him again. This movie seemed to have all of the potential to be a movie along the lines of “Kingpin.” Where the main character is a guy who is definitely messed up — but someone you can relate to — someone you root for to get the girl, the good life and ultimately win at life. I wanted him to be funny and off center — and at times he is — but for the most part it just felt like he deserves the spot in life that he occupies. None of the other characters remotely stood out to me. Dern’s character, Pippi, is unlikeable and mean to Wilson, using him to get what she wants — all while betraying him. Isabella Amara plays Claire, the long lost daughter, and before she lets Wilson back into her life at the end, you hate her for turning on her father and sending him to prison. Overall the movie just felt disjointed and kind of all over the place. Perhaps my hopes were too high. As I said, I opted to see this film instead of the bigger ones in theaters, just for a change of pace and was really hoping for a film that would make me laugh with originality and a strong story. Instead, I had a few chuckles and left the theater disappointed. Woody Harrelson will bounce back — most likely in the new Han Solo movie from Star Wars or “Zombieland 2” — but I hope he finds his way back to a movie with a little more meat and comedy that is off beat in nature. That’s what he’s best at.
