Which is what brought me to Visioneers. I saw it under his name on my Netflix, and saw it was available instantly, so one Sunday, I decided to see what it was about.
Wow. That's the first impression. It was categorized under "comedy" on Netflix, and boy is that far from the truth. Further research indicated that it was a "black comedy" which seems to lend more gravitas to the film than it deserves.
The film is a bleak look at a corporate world taken to the extreme. It's Big Brother-ish, but you're not quite sure how serious to take it until later in the film.
Galifinakis plays a mid-level administrator who presides over his cramped, yet spacious room in "Level 3" (of 5, we assume). One of his co-workers recently exploded, as are people all over the place.
Zach finds himself experiencing the symptom of people who have been exploding, namely, dreams.
He also tries to track down a co-worker who he has feelings for, despite having never seen her, and dealing with his wife, who watches boring daytime television all day.
In three paragraphs, I described the extent of almost 45 minutes worth of the movie. Forty-two minutes go by in the movie without a single thing happening, so it's almost a relief when it does.
It is a very visually striking film, everything seems to be placed in the frame to strike an effect, and most shots last long enough (and don't have enough going on) that you can take time to appreciate it.
But thematically, the movie is really weak. I think it tries to make an artistic statement about the banality of modern life, but I'm not sure, and I certainly didn't get it.
It takes the approach that "less is more" and leaves a lot of blank space, which I guess you're supposed to fill with your own awesome, ground-breaking thoughts about modern life, and then transfer them to the movie, therefore thinking that the movie is echoing your thoughts.
Well, my thought's were "When the hell does this movie end?" and I literally counted down almost everyone of the film's 91 minutes.
It is well shot enough to make you think you're watching something artistic and important, but you're just not.
Galifinakis is pretty good, he gets a few laughs, and he fills a whole lot of conversations (especially with women) with silence.
Quite frankly, it's a boring movie, and you keep waiting for something to happen, and though things eventually pick up (slightly) and things get a bit more sinister, the conclusion is extremely unsatisfying, but it fits perfectly with the style of the movie.
High-art people might say "Oh, but you missed the whole point! The movie was boring because it was a statement about how office and modern culture is turning our lives boring!"
Sure, I get that. I also know that "Office Space" said that same thing, only it was actually amusing.
Rating - $2.00
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