Welcome to Marwen: An unique kind of film

I don't normally hear about films when they first come out and just like most people I haven't been to a theater in quite some time. I also don't exactly try to get into the cinemas for most films because I have a pretty great setup at my house and there are a ton of films that I haven't watched yet that I would like to see. However, Steve Carell is a pretty special actor in my mind because he does comedy and drama so well and therefore I am surprised that this film passed me by without me ever even knowing it existed.

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The film starts out in a strange way because they put on the screen that this film is "based on true events" and then immediately thrust you into a World War 2 scene that is incredibly impractical and also has the look of everyone being action figures including Steve Carell's character of Cap'n Hogie. This was a very interesting piece of cinematography / CGI work because it manages to look both real and not real at the same time, if that makes any sense.

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Just when the story starts to take a rather absurd turn that makes you think "there is no way that this is based on true events" the action shifts and we are made aware of the fact that this action is all just a fantasy story that is in the mind of an artist and that he is actually making still photos of certain parts of the story in the world that he has created.

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This is where the story kind of goes in 2 different directions at once and both of them work. At times we are treated to the world of Cap'n Hogie and at other times we are in the world of artist Mark Hogancamp, who is actually very timid, socially-awkward, on medication for depression, and not anything at all like the Captain that he portrays in his mind.

This film was not well received by critic and despite having Carell in the lead role and one of the most famous directors in the world behind the camera (Robert Zemeckis) the film bombed at the box office and lost a ton of money. It is evident when you are watching it that this film cost a bunch of money to make and I was actually surprised to find out that it wasn't MORE than the near $40 million that it cost to make.

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Critics absolutely slammed the movie saying that one of the "worst" aspects about it was the hard-to-follow story of the fantasy world as opposed to what is going on in the real world of real-life person, Mark Hogancamp. This isn't the first time that I have disagreed with professional critics because this was precisely why I liked the film. Some critcs went so far as to say that this is "the worst movie that anyone involved in it has ever made."

I completely disagree.

Should I watch it?

When I see what the critics are saying about this film I think that perhaps they lack the appreciation for fantasy that some people possess and if you are one of those people that needs extreme realism in your films I think you will not enjoy this. However, it is visually beautiful, the real life portion of the film is touching and compelling, and the action is pretty great and consistent as well. I liked it a lot and it is one of the few films I have seen recently where I didn't look at my phone at all while it was on. Therefore it gets a thumbs up from me. Watch it and see if you agree or disagree with me.