‘Welcome to Marwen’ has a fascinating story, but doesn’t know how to tell it

Posted on January 4, 2019

By MARK VIOLA

Director Robert Zemeckis has rebooted his career several times over the decades, first making a name for himself with family-friendly action adventures such as “Romancing the Stone,” the “Back to the Future” trilogy and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” He then moved on to his dramatic period, with films including “Forrest Gump,” “Contact” and “Cast Away.” From there, he embraced motion-capture animation, putting out “The Polar Express,” “Beowulf” and “A Christmas Carol.”

His latest film, however, tries to combine the last two periods in one, telling a “Forrest Gump”-esque feel-good drama combined with uncanny valley-inhabiting motion capture animation. (The uncanny valley is found when human figures, especially faces, are recreated using special effects or other means and come close enough to the real thing to become unsettling by being just slightly off.)

Based on a fascinating true story, “Welcome to Marwen” falls into its own version of the uncanny valley, coming close to the heart-warming drama I’m sure Zemeckis — who co-wrote the screenplay with Caroline Thompson (“The Addams Family”) — was aiming for, but falling short of his goal thanks to a downright bonkers tone, which seems to shift every few scenes until the audience is emotionally seasick.

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