Movie Review: Welcome to Marwen

Somewhere along the line Robert Zemeckis, who both wrote and directed "Welcome to Marwen", made a decision to portray the plight of a man who was a victim of a hate crime, from the perspective of the dolls he used to re-create events of World War 2. This decision, in my opinion, is why the film is rating so low, only 27% on Rotten Tomatoes and 5.5 on IMDB. Considering the great films Zemeckis has been involved with over the years, 27% has to be his lowest ratings he has ever received. I do not agree with this rating due to the quality of the special effects showing the dolls looking so life-like and the underlying story of a severely injured man trying desperately rationalize his return to normal life, any way he can.

Welcome to Warwen is the true story of Mark Hogancamp who on April 8, 2000 was beaten almost to death by five attackers. His injuries put him into a coma for 9 days and for the rest of his life, he has no memory of anything prior to the attacks. The attacks occurred almost exclusively due to a conversation in a bar where Hogancamp admitted that at times, he wears high heels.

For those who have experienced severe PTSD, a man creating action figures and scenes from World War 2 where he is not the victim of a group of 5 animals who tried to kill him, but instead a soldier and leader of a gang of women soldiers who kill Nazis is understandable. Much of the healing with PTSD is done by the brain unconsciously and over a long period of time. All people have different ways to heal and the way Hogancamp tried to heal is so unusual it is worthy of a movie and a book.

I thought the acting in this film was very good, especially Steve Carell who played Hogancamp and this movie along with "Beautiful Boy", should be enough for him to receive and Academy Award nomination. The very low ratings for this film has more to do with the cruel harshness of critics than any other reason.

Mark Hogancamp is a known artist and photographer who has had several exhibits of his work over the years and anyone who sees this movie has to be impressed at a human being attempting to turn something so horrible into something positive.

I give Welcome to Marwen a solid 75% rating and I do recommend this film.