Visionários

I was at the Seattle premiere and I have to say that this film exceeded my wildest expectations, I've been a fan of Zach's for a while but I never expected this. I was skeptical of what seemed, from previews, like a plot that reached too far and relied on shock value but I was wrong, the film is beautiful and the absurdity comes from a real and painful place. Zach's performance is beautifully understated and he accomplishes so much with very few lines and the rest of the cast was really well constructed on what seems like a shoestring budget. Having grown up in Seattle it was really great to see cast members from Almost Live, it was just a really great experience over all (except the audio in the theater sucked) and I highly recommend it.

Orwellian comedic-drama from director Jared Drake and writer Brandon Drake pares civilization down to a desperately stress-free society filled with self-help gurus and innocuous television shows. Zach Galifianakis, an unhappily married family man who works in Level 3 of a major productivity corporation (where the company logo is the middle finger salute), attempts to avoid combustible stress as it is causing citizens to literally explode. There's no passion left in his marriage, yet the sound of a co-worker's voice on the phone reminds him of a happier time--when love ruled his heart. Nearly-ingenious bit of offbeat satire, infused with deadpan black comedy and Galifianakis' sly performance (he keeps a straight face almost throughout, though there's always a naughty twinkle in his eyes). Some of the situations fall flat, the dialogue is a bit crude, and the film runs too long at 95 minutes (cut the crusts off this material and it may have made for the perfect short). Still, the surge of feeling (and redemption) at the finale is worth waiting for, and the picture has an intriguing look and ambiance that could garner cult status. ** from ****

I love good black comedies. The best example of a true black comedy is "Dr. Strangelove". Although it's plot revolves around the possibility of the complete destruction of humanity it still manages to be funny from beginning to end. The problem with many black comedies is, although they have an absurd basis, they are just to bleak to be deserving of the description "comedy". "Visoneers" does manage to supply a handful of mildly humorous moments. Most of the real humor is generated by Zach Galafianakis body language. But, overall, this one fails as a comedy. That might be forgivable if the film turned out to be as original as it's synopsis implies. Unfortunately as the story progresses it degenerates into a low budget clone of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil". "Visioneers" also borrows way too heavily from other films such as "Fahrenheit 451", "Network", "1984" and even "Idiocracy." Although "Visioneers" is not without some merit, there are much better ways to spend an hour and thirty-five minutes

I guess my review is kind of biased - if I had never seen the Hangover, I would have probably not enjoyed the movie as much as I did. Somehow ZG seems to be exuding the right kind of vibes for this year or something. Visoneers reminded me of a plethora of American movies - Hudsucker, Brazil, 1984 - all mixed into one in a somewhat subdued, indie approach. If you haven't seen any of those movies this movie would strike you odd as it is one to convey a meaning much similar to the J-horror of Kurosawa. Considering the strangeness of the movie I expected the end to be somewhat living up to it, but this is where it kind of veers back to normality which I think may have been done for a proper distribution. If you want to watch it for ZG or have a penchant for movies that make you think go ahead full steam, otherwise just wait for the next ZG one, now that he's almost famous. For attempting to make a movie like this and picking ZG before he was famous, this movie gets my 7/10.

I mean, I get it. This movie is just not enjoyable in any way. There's a message in there about the awful dullness of the American white-collar lifestyle, marked by affluence stripped of all meaning or pleasure. It's all expressed with a bit of weirdness trying for absurdity. Unfortunately the movie ends without any real redemptive moment or even purpose. I did though like the bits on superficial tension-relieving strategies, since we seem to be awash in them these days, with predictable results.