Woody Harrelson's curmudgeonly charm fails misanthropic mess 'Wilson'
Woody Harrelson has curmudgeonly charm built into his acting DNA, but he can't quite humanize the misanthropic mess at the heart of Craig Johnson's choppy character study "Wilson."
Tom Hanks' volleyball buddy from "Cast Away" exudes more sympathy than this guy.
Harrelson's neurotic Wilson - a "Star Trek" transporter accident combining Woody Allen, Richard Dreyfuss and Owen Wilson - just wants to be loved. By anyone. How difficult can that be?
Plenty, especially when Wilson, a champion space invader, sits next to the only other passenger on a bus, strikes up an awkwardly personal conversation, then explodes in expletives when the encounter goes sour, as it always does.
Pity the poor guy Wilson buddies up to at the urinals.
This caustic, confused character tries to win us over with comically blunt "please like me" voice-over rants written by artist Daniel Clowes, based on his own graphic novel.
Wilson owns a lovable wire fox terrier dog named Pepper. That helps a little.
We witness Wilson's teary meltdown as he begs his dying father for some small affirmation of his love, but it never comes.
The emotional swamp in "Wilson" has been drained of sentiment, and even filtered through Harrelson's humane prism, the movie's empathy tactics come off strained and insincere.
"Wilson" finally acquires some semblance of a plot after Wilson re-connects with his drug-addicted, ex-hooker ex-wife Pippi (a properly disheveled Laura Dern) and discovers they have a daughter, now 17-year-old Claire (Isabella Amara), an unhappy, bullied teen living nearby with her rich and inattentive adoptive parents.
Clowes' clumpy screenplay strives for some personal redemption when Wilson serves a lengthy prison sentence for kidnapping. After suffering frequent beatings from fellow inmates, Wilson inexplicably transitions into a smooth, diplomatic pal to all the prison's cliques.
"I think prison forced me to grow up!" Wilson confides. Yet, he quickly reverts to his former self in what could be titled "Raiders of the Lost Character Arc."
Harrelson, who elevated sarcasm to a humanistic art form as the put-upon high school teacher in last year's "The Edge of Seventeen," buries his heart under layers of antagonistic attitudes.
His fellow cast mates are stellar, especially Cheryl Hines, who shines as Polly, Pippi's judgmental sister, and Amara, who nails the dark, cloudy disposition of a troubled teen struggling for identity and purpose in a cold and uncertain world.
"We all want people to love us for exactly who we are," Wilson says.
To which Shirley Knight in "As Good As It Gets" might respond, "Everybody wants that, dear. It doesn't exist."
“Wilson”
★ ★
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Judy Greer, Cheryl Hines
Directed by: Craig Johnson
Other: A Fox Searchlight release. Rated R for language, sexual situations. 94 minutes