Way back in 1995, Joaquin Phoenix gave a star-making performance in Gus Van Sant’s dark comedy To Die For. Now, according to Variety, it looks like a quick 21 years later the two will come together again for Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, an adaptation of cartoonist John Callahan’s autobiography, Will the Real John Callahan Please Stand Up? Callahan’s misspent teenage years were marred by drug and alcohol abuse, and at 21 he got into a car accident that left him a quadriplegic. (Callahan was not driving, but the driver had been drinking with him that day.) He relearned to use his hands and pursued drawing as a form of therapy, eventually becoming a cartoonist whose work was viewed as controversial for its depictions of people with disabilities. Don’t Worry’s roots in Hollywood go deep, too. Robin Williams was especially connected to the material, having written the introduction to Callahan’s memoir, and was originally meant to star in and produce the film back in the 1990s. And Van Sant was even attached to direct the project as far back as the early 2000s, but it eventually lost momentum and Callahan died in 2010. If the director’s previous work with both of the Phoenix brothers is any indication, this one should take you on a real emotional ride.
