(USA, 112 min.)
Written and directed by Matthew Weiner
Starring: Owen Wilson, Zach Galifianakis, Amy
Poehler, Laura Ramsay
Programme: Special Presentations (World Premiere)
Matthew Weiner’s “Mad Men” might be one of the most
cinematic television drama series ever created. The period drama has a style,
scope, and substance rarely seen on the airwaves. It’s no wonder, then, that You Are Here, Weiner’s feature film
directorial debut, would yield considerable interest from fans eager to see
what he could do in a different canvas. You
Are Here might therefore be an entirely different film experience for fans
of the AMC series and for filmgoers who have never had the pleasure of watching
one of Don Draper’s Shakespearean ad pitches. You Are Here might be a case where ignorance is bliss.
You Are Here is
often funny. It’s equally sprawling and messy. It’s also about twenty minutes
too long.
Weiner makes the transition to film with an indie comedy,
which is just about as far as one can get from “Mad Men” without including an alien.
Weiner wrote the script during his days as a writer on HBO’s “The Sopranos” and
shot the film during a gap in production on “Mad Men” with much of the show’s
crew. You Are Here is essentially an
indie relative of The Hangover in
Amish country as the film puts Owen Wilson in charge of the rambunctious bearded man-child of Zach
Galifianakis. (Although You Are Here was
penned before 2009’s The Hangover.) Neither
actor drifts far from his usual onscreen persona, although Galifianakis’s beard
looks fits right in in Amish country. One of the disappointments of You Are Here, then, is its comparative softness
in characterization in light of what Weiner can do with a man and a cigarette
on TV. The overall weakness of the film’s roster of one-dimensional female
characters is especially disappointing.
You Are Here is
certainly not a bad film by any measure, but it’s simply nowhere in the league
of even the lesser episodes of “Mad Men”. Humorous situational comedy and an
endless supply of clever dialogue ensure that viewers will be chuckling
throughout the two hours of this buddy comedy that also makes room for a clear message about social
responsibility and sustainability. Weiner even offers a provocative and
ambiguously symbolic image as an endnote for viewers to ponder, which demonstrates a fine eye for the visual power of cinema that might have been
more welcome elsewhere in the film. It’s an intriguing juxtaposition between
the old and the new—or, as Donald Kaufman would say, technology versus horse—that
might have inspired a campaign at Stirling Cooper Draper Pryce and should
inspire a post-screening discussion. You
Are Here is thus an enjoyable film that
mightsimply have enjoyed a stronger reception as a first feature had its director
not been the creator of the best show currently TV.
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
