Welcome to Marwen (2018) Universal/Drama RT: 116 minutes Rated PG-13 (sequences of fantasy violence, some disturbing images, brief suggestive content, thematic material, language) Director: Robert Zemeckis Screenplay: Caroline Thompson and Robert Zemeckis Music: Alan Silvestri Cinematography: C. Kim Miles Release date: December 21, 2018 (US) Cast: Steve Carell, Leslie Mann, Diane Kruger, Merritt Wever, Janelle Monae, Eiza Gonzalez, Gwendoline Christie, Leslie Zemeckis, Stefanie von Pfetten, Neil Jackson, Falk Hentschel, Matt O’Leary, Nikolai Witschl, Patrick Roccas, Alexander Lowe. Box Office: $10.8M (US)/$13.1M (World)
Rating: * ½
Welcome to Marwen, a rare misfire from Robert Zemeckis, definitely won’t win any Oscars but it has my vote for the Patch Adams Award for Most Shamelessly Manipulative Drama of 2018. I still can’t believe it was made by the same guy who directed Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Contact, The Polar Express, Flight and so many other good movies.
Like Patch Adams before it, Welcome to Marwen is based on a true story of a man who overcomes adversity to become a notable figure in his field. In this case, it’s Mark Hogancamp, an artist who suffered permanent brain damage as a result of a hate crime. Once a gifted illustrator, a brutal assault by five men left him with no memory of his life before the attack. It also robbed him of his ability to draw or even write his own name. What he did to compensate is remarkable. So why is Welcome to Marwen so unremarkable?
Steve Carrel, also on screens as Donald Rumsfeld in Vice, plays Hogancamp who we meet some time after the attack. In his backyard, he’s built a fictional WWII-era Belgian village called Marwen. He uses dolls to act out scenarios that he photographs. It’s his way of coping with his PTSD. The dolls represent people from his life. The hero of his fantasies is “Cap’n Hoagie”, an American pilot who always needs saving by the women of Marwen. The female dolls represent his real-life female friends- e.g. Roberta (Wever, Nurse Jackie), the woman from the hobby shop who “likes” him; Julie (Monae, Hidden Figures), an injured vet he meets in rehab and Anna (Christie, The Force Awakens), his Russian caretaker. Together they fight a squad of Nazis who represent the goons who attacked him outside a bar after learning of his fondness for wearing women’s shoes.
There’s something of a romance in Welcome to Marwen. Mark falls instantly in love with new neighbor Nicol (Mann, This Is 40) who moves into the house across the street. For no good reason, she has an abusive ex-boyfriend who keeps showing up at her house. Mark goes out and buys a doll representative of her and incorporates her into his fantasies. His feelings for Nicol are more like a fixation; they’re creepy rather than charming. This subplot feels weirdly out of place in a so-called inspirational picture. It’s just one of many issues I have with Welcome to Marwen.
The main problem with Welcome to Marwen is in its telling. In short, it’s told in too superficial a manner to elicit any sort of emotional response from the viewer. The story of Hogancamp has great dramatic potential that fails to materialize thanks to Zemeckis’ flat direction, especially in the live-action scenes. I will concede that the scenes with the dolls are artistically well-done. Zemeckis’ strong suit has always been special effects. Even in movies that aren’t great- e.g. Death Becomes Her, A Christmas Carol- you can always count on great visuals. But effects only carry a movie so far and in the case of Welcome to Marwen, it’s not far at all. When it gets back to reality, we’re reminded of the superficial nature of the movie. It glosses over things it shouldn’t like how the attack somehow cured Mark of his alcoholism. It doesn’t even bother to go into detail about what he was like before the attack. Of course, he doesn’t remember anything but surely others would fill him in. It also short-changes viewers of details of his rehabilitation. In real life, the insurance companies cut him off long before he completed his physical therapy. That’s not even mentioned. Too much pertinent info is revealed via dialogue instead of flashbacks which would have been more interesting for audiences.
Dramatically, Welcome to Marwen is inert. You can tell it wants to move viewers in how it leads up a big climactic courtroom scene where Mark finally faces his assailants. He makes a victim impact statement which, I suppose, is meant to move viewers to tears. It doesn’t. The scene fails to hit the necessary emotional high notes. Not only that, we don’t even find out what sentences the judge hands down, not even in the epilogue which only informs us that Mark is still a successful photographer. I really had to look on-line to learn of the attackers’ fates (only three of the five saw the inside of a jail cell).
Carrel plays Mark Hogancamp like he plays most of his roles, as a not-too-bright milquetoast. I seriously doubt the real Mark Hogancamp is anything close to that. For reality’s sake, he occasionally freaks out and dives for cover. That’s about it. I never got the sense he was playing a real-life person. Mann does her best with a thinly-written role. It would be pointless to comment on the other performances due to the shallow characterizations. We don’t get to know most of the women who serve as Mark’s protectors. Story elements are introduced only to be dropped or forgotten. The score by Alan Silvestri enables the movie in its efforts to manipulate the audience.
Honestly, Welcome to Marwen is as perfunctory a drama as I’ve ever seen. It’s a little bit interesting in parts, but the overall effect leaves a lot to be desired. I’m sure there’s an interesting story to be told about Mark Hogancamp, but Welcome to Marwen is definitely not it.*
*= Some friends have recommended the 2010 documentary Marwencol. I’ll be looking it up very soon.
