Somebody Up There Likes Me

Somebody Up There Likes Me (2012)
Directed by: Bob Bylington
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

I am a fan of offbeat comedies. There is something about them that is just so pleasing to me. I like the satisfaction of laughing at something that is funny without feeling like I am being told to laugh (not sure if that makes sense). For instance, The Hangover is a funny movie because it is so outrageous. The characters do appalling things and you feel compelled to laugh because it is so crazy. Now, compare that to a Wes Anderson film and you will see the differences in the types of comedy they provide. Anderson films are subtle, tongue-in-cheek, and smart. The comedy that they provide is a bit more cerebral and that is fun for me. Somebody Up There Likes Me is similar to Anderson films in that the whole film is completely offbeat and actually rather strange.

Somebody Up There Likes Me looks at the adult life of Max; an odd and socially awkward man. When the film starts, we meet Max at the airport. He has just come into town to see his soon to be ex wife (Kate Lyn Sheil). As he meanders around the airport, he stops at a flower vending machine to pick up a gift/peace offering for his wife. He doesn't buy the flowers and he drives to his wife's house. On his way, he spots a roadside memorial and opts to "borrow" flowers from it. When he arrives and offers the flowers, his wife notices that it says "In Memoriam" and asks if he is "completely stupid". Max responds by saying "not completely" and then comments on how the painting he got her is upside down. Max leaves, buys flowers at a local grocery store, and returns to catch his wife in bed with another man. She tells him that you buy flowers from a florist, and Max asks if he had done that if he would be the one in bed with her. Max leaves, returns the flowers, and goes on with his life. A while later Max begins working at a steakhouse with his best friend Sal (Nick Offerman). There, he meets Lyla (Jess Weixler) and falls in love with her. She is awkward and constantly eats the thin breadsticks that the restaurant offers to its patrons. The film follows Max and Lyla's life together, Sal's role in their lives, and the impact of Max and Lyla's strange behavior on their son Lyle. There is also a mysterious blue suitcase that is seen throughout the film ala Pulp Fiction.

Somebody Up There Likes Me is not for everyone. It is an incredibly subtle and mundane comedy, but if you like that brand of humor then you will definitely enjoy this film. Offerman is so great as Sal and I am almost positive that most of his lines were ad-libbed. Watch the trailer to get a feel for the film.


Also check out how incredibly brilliant Nick Offerman is.

Amazing.

My favorite part of the film (dialogue aside) is the way it was filmed. It feels like it was shot with a handheld camera which feels a lot more personal than a professionally done film. One of the unique parts of the film is that it spans thirty five years yet the only people that age are Sal, Max's therapist (Megan Mullally), and Lyle. Bylington doesn't even apply makeup to his lead actors to give the appearance of age. It is up to the audience to understand that they are aging. There is a film called Suture that stars Dennis Haysbert and Michael Harris as nearly identical brothers. What is strange about this is that Haysbert is black and Harris is white.


The idea behind the decision to cast the identical brothers as different races is to allow the audience to get lost in the story. If you know that neither actor looks anything like the other then there is no time spent on determining the similarities and differences. I found that, as I watched it, it was easier to accept that the two were brothers because that is what the story told me, and not what I observed. In the case of Somebody Up There Likes Me, we don't spend any time focusing on the age makeup, we don't wonder if that is actually how they would look in thirty years, and Bylington didn't have to cast older actors to play the middle aged versions of his characters.

No BS

Somebody Up There Likes Me is not going to have a huge audience. It isn't in danger of winning an MTV movie award (thank God). It is a wonderfully constructed, subtle comedy. If you don't like to be spoon fed comedy, if you are not a fan of laugh tracks (I am talking to some specific friends of mine), and if you love Nick Offerman then definitely see this film.

My Score: 7.5/10