Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Are You Here Blu-ray Movie Review

Questioning the statement.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 30, 2014

Please frame your answer in the form of a question. Are You Here: Jeopardy! fail. And movie fail. Are You Here -- statement, not question, but perhaps, then, a form of commentary on life by phrasing a question in the form of a statement, or maybe someone's "?" key just broke at an inopportune time -- is itself sort of like a game of Jeopardy!, a movie in which there are a lot of categories, plenty of questions, and not always a right answer to be found. Shoot, there's even big money involved. The film follows several dysfunctional people and the chaos that life places in their paths, chaos born of money, uncertainty, hate, questionable mental health, objectionable morals, strange relationships, and curvy twists of fate on which the likes of these sorts of movies usually thrive but that here only place the viewer into a deeper void of empty meandering. The film is built on a solid foundation of healthy characterization and good actors but never does much with either, or anything else at its disposal, for that matter. Hints of a better film abound but the end product only serves to disappoint audiences rightly expecting something a little more substantive and directional.

High.

Steve Dallas (Owen Wilson) is a small-time weatherman whose life revolves around bedding women, drinking, and looking for money wherever he can scrounge some together. When he gets word that his longtime friend Ben Baker (Zach Galifianakis) has lost his father, he agrees to come to the funeral and will reading for support. There, he meets Ben's overbearing sister Terry (Amy Poehler) and Ben's young stepmother Angela (Laura Ramsey). Dad leaves Terry with $350,000 but wills everything else -- his store, his farmhouse, and assets worth well over $2,000,000 -- to Ben. Terry's fury leads her to challenge the claim and expose Ben's uneven mental and emotional balance. Meanwhile, Steve finds himself growing ever more attracted to Angela.

Part of the problem is that Are You Here never dares to traverse down new avenues of exploration. It assembles tired characters constructed with recycled materials and places them in an unimaginative environment that's defined by strife and money, a cloudy mess of circumstance and strained relationships and wounded personal lives that slowly come into focus as the film progresses towards its conclusion. Yet it takes so many twists and turns that, while the outcomes aren't always predictable, they're not particularly noteworthy or satisfying, either. The characters are terribly uneven and uninteresting and are the greatest hindrance to that unsatisfying end. There's the stock wannabe playboy, the stock younger wife, the stock angry daughter, and the stock wayward son. Character dynamics are flat and stale, resulting in an experience that might flesh them out but that doesn't fully fill them in. Characters move forward by means of outward destruction and change or predictable ends throughout, not only the story catalyst death of Ben and Terry's father but in several more symbolic occurrences that won't be mentioned out of respect for audiences who haven't seen the film but that clearly represent an advancement facilitated by a gesture more so than a deeper understanding of person, place, or circumstance. It's not particularly well thought out and it's not very well executed, either, at least not in a dramatically satisfying sense.

The film, then, can only hope to be saved by its interesting cast. Certainly, it's a character drama that only ever makes use of larger set pieces to reinforce a point, leaving the film's chances for success more in the hands of the writer and the capabilities of the performers and less so in the realm of visual and aural flash. The actors try their best to muster what they can from the material, but there's no doubt they struggle to find the characters' centers. They feel like they rush through dialogue, stumble through empty drama, and who can blame them for either? The entirety of the film seems picked off from other sources and cobbled together with a cursory story but no identifiable center. Rather than a fuller sense of family and purpose that's found in better "family reunion" films like August: Osage County -- which is certainly a darker and more challenging watch but also a much more rewarding experience of reunited family in life after death -- Are You Here, which can never seem to decide if it's a Comedy, a human interest Drama, or a Romance, simply treads ground because it can, not because it has anything to say or do. It's so stuffy and confused that there's not much breathing room to be found, no open avenues of exploration, just an inconsistent stream of fumbling dynamics, unfocused characters, and an unsatisfying narrative direction.

Are You Here Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Are You Here does deliver a good video presentation. Millennium Entertainment's 1080p transfer provides a relatively smooth and flat HD video picture but one that nevertheless delivers bright, accurate colors, even clarity, and solid foundational details. Trouble spots include minor background banding, occasionally crushed blacks, and minute occurrences of aliasing. Otherwise, the picture is good-to-go. Details appear faithfully reproduced, revealing excellent textures across the board, including skin features, clothing lines, country and city nuance, and good image definition on random close-up shots of objects like a styrofoam chest and a wooden stump. Colors are frequently bright and pleasing, whether clothing accents, natural greenery, a red car, or other examples of the palette's relatively diverse and cheerful presentation. Overall, this is a solid effort all around.

Are You Here Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Are You Here's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack capably conveys the film's music and sound design. As a dialogue-heavy Drama, there's not much here beyond the spoken word, which is delivered accurately, consistently, and clearly from the center channel. Musical delivery satisfies. It's fairly front heavy and not exceptionally robust, but a light surround element and good clarity throughout the entire range carries it well. The track frequently envelops the listener in light background ambience, including blowing wind, nighttime insect song, and the din of a bar. A few heavier effects play nicely enough, including a clucking chicken and a blaring alarm. Otherwise, this is a rather straightforward track that does the big things right and impresses in its ability to convey the little things with dependable accuracy and placement around the stage.

Are You Here Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Are You Here contains previews for additional Millennium Entertainment titles as well as an audio commentary track with Writer/Director Matthew Weiner, Editor Christopher Gay, and Cinematographer Chris Manley. They discuss film structure, character development, story details, set design, scene construction, and much more. The filmmakers do a good job of shaping the story both on its surface and behind-the-scenes, much better than the film itself. A good example comes around the 21-minute mark when they share story ideas that didn't exactly make it into the film in an obvious manner.

Are You Here Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Are You Here shows flashes of potential, even through the fog of flat characters and a fairly directionless story. There's opportunity aplenty to create something vastly more interesting and satisfying, something made of quality dramatic nuance and a healthy, vibrant arc, but the movie seems to only throw darts and settle for whatever number they touch. It's a shame to waste this talented cast, and more is expected from one of the key creative geniuses behind The Sopranos and Mad Men. Unfortunately, this feels like a draft, at best, something cobbled together for a project rather than a purpose. Millennium Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Are You Here features solid video and audio. A commentary track is the only included supplement. Worth a rental for the curiously inclined.