MOVIE REVIEW: "Welcome to Marwen" is Betterthan its Rating at Rotten Tomato

December 24, 2018
By: Kathy Rupert-Mathews

Please don't take the Rotten Tomatoes rating of "Welcome to Marwen" as something that should be paid attention to. I found it to be an interesting and heart-warming movie. You should go and make your own decision.

It's a true story. It is a dramatization of the 2010 documentary "Marwencol."

A great illustrator is beaten in a hate attack to within an inch of dying. He loses his ability to draw and all of his personal memories prior to his attack. His PTSD is horrendous. He seeks peace in creating a WWII miniature village peopled with dolls of the Barbie/GI Joe statue. He poses them in various scenarios and photographs them. He is good enough to have a show of his photography in NYC.

The fun part of the movie is that the people of the village are reflections of people he actually knows. Steve Carell plays the main character, Mark Hogancamp whose alias is Captain Hogie. His physical therapist, Julie played by Janelle Monáe is one of the Women of Marwen. The rest of the women are Eiza Gonzalez as Carlala, Leslie Zemeckis as Suzette, Merritt Wever as Roberta, Leslie Mann as Nicol, and Gwendolyn Christie as Anna. These characters of Marwen are tough freedom fighters of the Nazis.

I feel it is well done. The movement of the "dolls" is done by motion capture of the actors. The story is sweet. You ache for him when his PTSD kicks in. You cringe as he relives his attack. You cheer as he is finally able to face his attackers in court.

So go. Have fun. Eat popcorn.