Somebody Up There Likes Me

I caught this film at last year's SXSW film festival, and it ended up being one of the more memorable surprises of the fest. A droll comedy with elements of surrealism blended in, Somebody Up There Likes Me is about Max (Keith Poulson), who drifts through life with an air of detachment, taking in every new major development (such as marriage and childbirth) with a shrug. In a sense nothing really seems to change for Max, a point which is driven home by the fact that he never visibly ages on screen, even though the story skips ahead 5 years at a time on numerous occasions. Max is frequently accompanied by his best friend and co-worker Sal (Nick Offerman), who dishes out hilarious advice and acts as a sounding board, confidant and, eventually, romantic rival.

Somebody Up There Likes Me is a wry meditation on life, fate, mortality, and responsibility. Despite the presence of such seemingly heady themes, the film is briskly paced and remains consistently funny thanks to some sharply written dialogue and a terrific cast. Keith Poulson and Nick Offerman make for a great pair, and their banter is perhaps the highlight of the movie. The animated interludes (by Bob Sabiston, of Waking Life/A Scanner Darkly fame) are evocative and contribute to the somewhat dreamy quality of the material. I look forward to seeing the film again, as it's one that has stuck with me for some time. If nothing else, Somebody Up There Likes Me feels completely unique, an oddball charmer that takes you on a funny and melancholy journey through something like human existence.

I'm not usually a fan of these new American independent movies...they're mostly insipid, badly shot wrecks, but this was not that. I caught SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME at the Viennale and would highly recommend it. It was one of the few comedies that I saw there, and I'm happy to say that I laughed a lot. It has oddball charm, a story conceit similar to Bunuel, and tenderness at its core. I really loved the lead actor's performance. The director has a voice and characters that know how to speak it. It makes me want to see this Bob Byington's other movies. It also makes me want to see more comedies. What's wrong with people being so serious all the time? Boring, pretentious. I could go on and on...but what it boils down to is this: go see this and laugh and feel something, because you don't want to end up like the main character in it, trust me - that's why you should see it, so you know what you might become if you're numb to laughter.

This film is lighthearted, pleasant & deadpan throughout. But it's a good hang, despite threatening to veer off into an unbearable level of twee. It keeps its balance and the utter lack of sentimentality keeps it tonally stable.

The story is quite uncomplicated on the surface. Point A to Point B and so on, but it moves at the perfect pace and tells a casually interwoven tale of life from a very novel perspective.

Nick Offerman & Jess Weixler are equally charming and, despite the simplicity of the film's concept, do a good enough job -- along with their acting cohorts -- to maybe spawn a philosophical question here or there.