You Are Here
Special Presentation
Director: Matthew Weiner
There’s a movie starring Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, and Amy Poehler that was written/directed by Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. It’s a film that Weiner has nursed along for years and was his dream project that he just had to make once he had some post-Mad Men power. Sounds like it can’t possibly fail, right? Unfortunately even incredibly talented people can fail sometimes and this is one of those occasions. Just like last year’s David Chase feature Not Fade Away, it feels like Weiner was so respected by everyone throughout the process that no one was willing to tell him “no” or suggest that any of the ideas tumbling out of his skull didn’t work.
Wilson and Galifiankis star as a pair of stoner buddies who slack off as adults. Then one day, Galifiankis’ father dies and leaves him a fortune. So the bearded semi-hobo decides to live out some of his idealistic fantasies. Simply put, You Are Here just doesn’t work on every conceivable level. There are no laughs despite boasting three of the more consistent comedy stars working today and the story is tiresome, sentimental, and meaningless despite coming from the creator of Mad Men, a show that is none of those things. It’s such a big wiff that the whole thing really isn’t worth taking seriously and should be forgotten by all before it is even released. Everyone involved has done better work in the past and will do better work in the future. Whatever went wrong here is an anomaly and it’s best to not even question why, but to let it disappear and move on. (Phil Brown)