Review of Are You Here (2013) by Jordan S — 09 Mar 2014

Blends the comedy and drama well even if it runs 30 minutes too long. Sad that Wilson and Galifiankis didn't come to the panel, but Matthew Weiner was great providing insightful answers to his film intentions.

I really didn't know what to expect when I spontaneously bought tickets to a second film this year at TIFF. With names like Owen Wilson, Zach Galifiankis, and Amy Poehler it seemed like a comedy, but it was directed by the creator of Mad Men. Surprisingly, You Are Here is effective at blending comedy and drama and it provides great performances from Wilson and Galifiankis, even if just like Wilson's "How Do You Know?" it is way too long/drags on for it's own good and it repeats it's title in too many creative manners in the film.

For the first 30 minutes, you really could take Wilson and Galifiankis from most of their past repertoire. Wilson is the fast talking jerk while Galifiankis plays the annoying insane friend.

The film then takes a complete 360 and dives into much darker territory. Galifanakis shines, and basically undergoes a complete transformation (spoiler) where he turns really into someone normal, which will probably be jarring to most since his crazy is normal. Wilson actually shows (slight) dimensionality to his role. Poehler, even if her role was more nasty than cheery like on Parks and Rec was still great to see on screen.

The Q&A with Weiner was probably a highlight, showing the passion for the project and clearly explaining all of his intentions (the themes of avoiding connection and feeling). I hope he continues to direct more projects like this.