Are You Here

This was made by the Mad Men guy? Galifinakis is a delight like usual

The tone is incredibly amorphous. And the musical score is terrible - one of the worst ever, maybe. But there's some cool visual ideas (the horse at the end, for example). And BEARD. And the beautiful brunette hippie chick. Those things are worth seeing. But structurally, thematically, Amy Poehler-ally... Below average and needed work.

I miss the old Zach Galifianakis

Are you here? The movie asks this, as the credits roll down the screen. It isn't a bad movie, but for a comedy it was lacking some serious laughs. Amy Poehler was atrocious in this film, while Galifianakis and Wilson try to pull off convincing drama. They don't exactly pull it off, but they don't ruin the film either. Honestly, Laura Ramsey was the most redeeming part of the film. She was a good little actress and brought an ethereal beauty to the film...

Are You Here is too melancholic to be called a comedy. The film doesn't have a promising start. It encounters a few interesting moments within, but doesn't build on them, choosing to instead a shallow and dwindling journey to the end. The whole film is just disappointing overall. Meh!

The Matthew Weiner special. An attractive white guy is mostly a dick but gets by on his charisma and charm. He is close to overdosing on anomie and drinks a lot. While this mostly worked in Mad Men it's unsuccessful here. Mostly because Wilson doesn't do much that's actually charming or charismatic to show why people actually like him. Other characters mention it but we don't see it. Not blaming Wilson for it, seemed like a script issue.

A film that got a really rough ride from the critics, but in all honesty I found it pleasant enough & find the criticism a little bemusing. "Are You Here" is low key, deliberately so, & never seems to be attempting to be an all out comedy. It's wryer than that & tonally it sets itself out well until things become uneven in the last 30 minutes or so. The leads are solid, but the screenplay & director struggle to deal with each characters development in the final third. Average, but no stinker.

There are a few decent moments, but overall it feels a bit all over the place.

Thankfully I was able to watch this to the ending credits, despite the fact that the two leads are my least favorite actors. Owen Wilson and Zach Galifianakis are their typical useless selves, but at least the story is held together with some interesting scenes and wacky scenerios. Jenna Fischer and Melissa Rauch were a treat. Amy Poehler was mostly underutilized. The story is odd enough to hold your interest which is surprising since these two guys are otherwise monumental failures.

Overall Enjoyment: 29/40, Plot/Themes: 14/20, Cinematography/Direction: 14/20, Acting/Writing: 13/20

Labeled as a comedy, yet I didn't laugh once....not a single chuckle. What a waste.