The first feature from short film and music video directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan (aka The Daniels), Swiss Army Man lays out its stall from the get go. Hank (Paul Dano) is stranded on an island, and his hopeful messages-in-bottles are not having the desired effect. Resolved to his doom, he’s on the brink of suicide when a corpse (Daniel Radcliffe) washes ashore, offering a chance of salvation. The Swiss Army Man of the title, Manny (as he’s later revealed to be called) is a corpse of many uses, and his usefulness is revealed instantly. His excessive flatulence propels him through the water, and Hank rides him like a jet ski towards home. It’s a surreal, hilarious visual, made all the more audacious by the utter commitment of the actors. This whole sequence takes place before the opening titles come up, and these 10 minutes alone would serve as a solid short film, so much so, it’s hard to know where it’ll go next when they hit dry land. This is where the bromance starts, as the pair have to make their way through the woods towards Hank’s home.

As stiff, motionless corpse Manny, Radcliffe delivers an impressive physical performance, from his face down to his limbs. It’s another bold post-Potter move from the boy who lived, a wilfully uncommercial prospect that helps demonstrate his considerable range. Slowly, he learns about the world from Hank, taking in as much about human biology (and its embarrassing side effects) as social relationships and human interaction. And, yes, love. Oh, and he also had a twitching boner that can point them in the right direction home. Told you he was multi-functional.

Through the course of their travels, Hank fills Manny in on his lonely life, and the girl he carries an unrequited love for, often using handmade puppets and models to illustrate his points. It’s a kooky touch, but one that works in the context of the generally surreal tone. And as Manny slowly learns about life and love (making him a more interesting update on the Frankenstein’s monster than Radcliffe’s recent box-office bomb), the crude humour is given a lot of heartfelt context. It’ll be a little too gross for certain tastes, but go with it and you’ll be rewarded with something deeper and more personal than your standard fratboy comedy.

As their journey goes on, and Manny is proven to have even more skills (karate-chop action, projectile-launching gob), the absurd laughs come thick and fast, but it’s the emerging friendship that sticks with you more than the ridiculous images. Putting human foibles under the microscope, it’s a much more sensitive film than the recent headlines have given it credit for. By the end of the film, you may even just find yourself being moved by a fart gag. WTF indeed.

Images: Swiss Army Man

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More than any other festival, Sundance has acted as the launchpad for some of the most interesting, cool and uniquely voiced directors of modern cinema.

This year, it could just be writer and first time director Maya Forbes who kickstarts her major movie career, thanks to the sweet, warm, funny and nowhere-near-as-annoying-as-the-title-may-suggest dramedy, Infinitely Polar Bear .

Having already written 2009’s under-appreciated Monsters vs Aliens (opens in new tab) , Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3 (opens in new tab) , and a host of episodes of The Larry Sanders Show , she’s certainly no stranger to Hollywood, but Infinitely Polar Bear marks her directorial debut, and it’s an impressive introduction.

Based on the writer-director’s own life story, it follows one family’s struggle to function in the wake of the father’s diagnosis with manic depression.

After a full-on breakdown and subsequent treatment, Cam (Mark Ruffalo) returns to a family in which his lovingly supportive but emotionally stretched wife Maggie (Zoe Saldana) struggles to make ends meet, while bringing up her fiery, clever and dynamic daughters.

With Cam unable to hold down a job (or his own mood swings), she’s forced to up sticks to New York and study for her business degree, thus leaving Cam in charge of the girls. Chaos, calamity and chuckles inevitably reign.

While the tale is in itself fascinating, and Forbes’ direction vibrant and warm-hearted, it’s the casting that helps the movie soar.

Imogene Wolodarsky and Ashley Aufderheide prove instantly adorable and endlessly amusing as the argumentative, impassioned and increasingly exasperated pre-teen daughters, and Ruffalo is as fun as he is infuriating as the familial tornado responsible for both adrenalising and dismantling the status quo – but it’s Saldana who really shines, offering dramatic shades hereto unseen as the matriarch torn between her children, her husband and her work.

Sure, every so often Ruffalo tips a little too far into manic quirk overdrive, and those looking for a serious and brutal look at living with a loved one suffering from manic depression will find more than a whiff of the Silver Linings Playbook school of life lessons. But then Infinitely Polar Bear was never meant to be a somber, dour and emotionally destructive look at mental disability.

Forbes actively sought to create a warm, affectionate ode to family life, no matter how dysfunctional, and in that she’s certainly succeeded.

Appropriately enough, Infinitely Polar Bea r is likely to polarise – but for those looking for a feel-good, low-key family drama, this could be the surprise of Sundance.

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