Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot

Director Gus Van Sant takes a dizzying approach to this biopic, using shifting timelines and an anarchic tone to tell Callahan's story, though supporting actors like Black and Hill come out sharpest. The kind of material tackled in Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot is usually considered awards bait and thus treated with high-minded, noble seriousness, but Van Sant bathes his film in an orange, sun-streamed light, giving it an appealing looseness that's uncharacteristic in his work. Even though it has much in common with Van Sant's last biopic, Milk (2008), it's far more rambunctious.

Scenes of Callahan zooming around at top speed in his electric wheelchair -- Phoenix's face stoically taking in the breeze -- are exhilarating, even if Phoenix himself seems a little too serious for the role. He doesn't seem capable of coming up with Callahan's irreverent cartoons, which Van Sant animates and uses as transitions, and his performance only emphasizes the character's innate selfishness. (Robin Williams, who had been in Van Sant's Good Will Hunting, originally hoped to play the part.) Mara doesn't have much to do in her role, but both Black and Hill are miraculous -- Black emotionally breaking down, and Hill flashing a kind of rock-star confidence in his eyes.