Welcome to Marwen is a 2018 drama where a victim of a brutal attack finds a unique and beautiful therapeutic outlet to help him through his recovery process.
In a year where I was expecting Steve Carell to be a lock for garnering an Oscar nomination; after having just viewed his latest venture, Welcome to Marwen, it’s safe to say that door is all but shut. His performance in Beautiful Boy fell into the good not great category, and with Vice, it’s Christian Bale and Sam Rockwell that are getting all the love. And then we have Marwen. What was portrayed in the trailer for this film was an uplifting story of a man using a unique means of overcoming a traumatic event. What we really get here from director Robert Zemeckis is a confusing mess of a film, that focuses on embellishing and fabricating the true story to make it more appealing to Hollywood. Unfortunately for Zemeckis, he probably would’ve been better off sticking to the facts for this one.
Welcome to Marwen, the imaginary town created by former WWII artist Mark Hogancamp (Carell). Hogancamp was the victim of a brutal assault by five neo-Nazis that inflicted severe brain damage on him, leaving him with virtually no memories. As a means of healing and coping, Hogancamp created Marwen, a miniature WWII-era Belgian town that is inhabited by dolls representing Hogancamp and the important women in his life. Hogancamp then uses the dolls to create different storylines that he takes pictures of, creating his own special form of art.
Life is hard for Hogancamp, as he needs notes all over his house to remind him of basic things to do like turning down the heat. He also has the daunting task coming up of attending the sentencing of the men who attacked him. Although he doesn’t want to go, his lawyer continues to assure him of how important his presence will be to ensure a maximum sentence. On the bright side, he has a new neighbor, Nicol (Leslie Mann), who just moved in that he is rather fond of. There is also an upcoming gala that is showcasing his pictures of Marwen and telling his story. Although it’ll be difficult for Hogancamp to overcome his fears to pursue justice and love, with the town of Marwen behind him, anything is possible.
I’ll start by saying that this film had fantastic visuals of the live action dolls in Marwen. They all looked astoundingly similar to the actor or actress they were portraying, and there were quite a few sequences that were very aesthetically appealing. For this, one would have to assume that the film will be getting some Oscar love for visual effects. And that is about where the positivity stops for Marwen.
At the core of this film there is an interesting story. A man is beaten within an inch of his life and uses an extremely unique coping mechanism to try and recover mentally from this abuse. Hogancamp had to re-learn how to do all the basic things that become second nature for people. There are probably some remarkable stories about his recovery, along with the amazing people that helped him through it. After all, the women of Marwen are so important in his imagination and the re-creations that he makes.
However, as opposed to making that the focal point of the story, Zemeckis opts to use actresses Eliza Gonzalez, Gwendoline Christie, Janelle Monae and Merritt Weaver for all of 10 minutes to show their importance to Hogancamp. What Zemeckis does instead is really develop the imaginative story of the dolls in Marwen, and incorporates a very bizarre witch role that is voiced by Diane Kruger. While the visuals were great, the story of the dolls is almost laughable and shifts the tone of the movie in the wrong direction.
In addition to this, Zemeckis develops a kind of one sided love story between Hogancamp and Nicol. Asides from this being entirely fabricated (I looked it up), it also felt entirely unnecessary. It was as if Zemeckis felt that in order for the story to be more accepted in Hollywood, he needed to force a love interest in there. All we get from this is a wildly uncomfortable scene in which Hogancamp proposes to Nicol using a purple heart he purchased. I was literally squirming in my seat from the awkwardness that was taking place on screen. Were it something that had really happened in his life, I understand the need for Zemeckis to incorporate it. However, the fact that it was entirely made up makes it a baffling entry into the film.
I had hyped this film up a lot. Zemeckis is an Oscar winning director, Carell has really shown his post-Office acting chops, and the trailer damn near brought a tear to my eye. Unfortunately, what I thought was going to be an emotional masterpiece turned into a bizarre, adult version of Toy Story, but in the worst way possible. I will say, if there is an award for churning out a great trailer that completely masks a terrible film, someone here deserves it.