VISIONEERS

(USA – 2008 – 94 mins.)

Directed By Jared Drake

Review By Michael Ricciardi

Dire warnings of “CHaos” (pronounced with a soft consonant ‘ch’), fridges over-stocked with butter, half-hearted middle finger salutes/greetings, minute by minute loud speaker countdowns (via an officiously impersonal female voice) of the “productivity minutes remaining”…these are the visual/audio elements (and gags) that recur throughout the digital technology de-voided, dream deficient, mega-corporate dominated world of VISONEERS, a wicked satire with a warm soul centering on the growing spiritual/existential/emotional crisis of George (Zach Galifianakis), a “level 3” manager in a sanitized, 1970’s style business aesthetic, lifeless office of the Jeffers Corporation. George’s work day—punctuated by tube-delivered documents with happy face ‘post-its’ on them--is made less excruciatingly dull by short-lived moments when “Charisma” from level 4 calls him to inform him of some corporate news or other. On this particular day, Charisma calls to tell George, in a guarded voice, that a colleague from level 5 didn’t show up for work that day, and later, she confirms that the co-worker has, in fact, “exploded”.

With a strong nod to Brazil and Metropolis, and more oblique nods to Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, VISONEERS relies on strong characters and quirky but compelling writing to tell its story of the ‘everyman’ George, who is suffocating under the oppressive weight of an ersatz, corporate crafted, “happiness” culture. George fears he may be next to explode, as he watches late night telethons and checks off his list of symptoms—the most dire of which is dreaming, and in his case, dreaming that he is George Washington, preparing to cross the Delaware. In this world—the Jeffers world-- all such dreaming is a sign that one is not content with the way things are, and thus doctor visits, funny hats, and books on “10,000 ways to be happy” (championed by his  dissatisfied wife, played by Judy Greer) are in order. And, if things get really critical, there is always the inhibitor—a patently silly looking electronic device that is attached to the neck—that blocks, we presume, the ability to dream, and, whatever it is inside these random people (too much butter?) that builds to a head and causes them to explode…

Amidst all this, George’s brother—a former “level 5-er” turned cultural rebel—sets up camp in his back yard, where he practices the art of pole vaulting. His solitary, zen-like practice quickly attracts the attention of other misfits and would-be rebels (not to mention the FBI), and so George’s back yard quickly becomes a sanctuary, of sorts, for non-conformists rediscovering their true joy (in often ridiculous ways). Meanwhile, George continues to dream of being George Washington. He now experiences random “fits” of mindless trashing/smashing of objects, more people are exploding (including former TV shills for the “Jeffers way”) or committing suicide, and his unrequited infatuation with Charisma from level 4 takes a mysterious turn, as she is one day simply no longer there (on the phone)—replaced by a more officious, and loyal drone. We sense George’s loss here, for he has never met the real woman behind the voice, and perhaps never will; we fear she too may have exploded.

But then, through a series of chance events, George embarks on a journey of discovery –“down the rabbit hole” as it were—to find “his Charisma” and discover the nature of their bond. In the course of this, he also has his Oz moment—a glimpse behind the façade of corporate image, wherein he meets the great Jeffers himself in a revelatory face-to-face chat in the back of a limo.

VISIONEERS is the brain-child of local (Pacific Northwest) film making team: brothers Brandon (writer) and Jared (director) Drake. It is a very ambitious film, as evidenced by its many concurrent plot threads, philosophic messages, quirky invented details, and great, human themes.  This ambition is made all the more stark when one notices, in retrospect, that this movie must have had a very small production budget. There are no elaborate sets, or high-end CGI sequences, or special FX…the film’s considerable charm rests on its well-worked script, vivid, odd-ball characters, and straight ahead directing (with an eye for the absurd) to tell its funny, sad, absurd, and ultimately, life-affirming tale.

It was as if the brothers were out to prove that their first feature film could achieve a high level of story telling and entertainment value without a million dollar budget....., but most likely, being first time film outsiders, they had no choice but to do so, or fail trying. Satire is a tricky “ship” to navigate in film; there are so many ways it can veer off-course, or lose its steam, or sink (to extend the metaphor). To be sure, there were a few moments here and there when I felt that the film might fall apart, might dip too far into indie, B-flick waters. (the film has a LOT going on in it as it progresses, and this busy-ness can sometimes derail a film). The sub-plot with the pole-vaulting, rebellious older brother occasionally teetered on half-formed farce, but fortunately, the writing worked this out (there was after all, a philosophical point to this subplot), and the director kept the story moving at a good clip. There was also an occasional detail—designed to complete the picture of a corporate slogan dominated world—that went a little over the top (such as in the use of the word “tunt”), but in this film, there are so many clever, funny details that one can easily ignore the few that were a tad much.

Brothers Brandon and Jared Drake have managed something truly remarkable with VISIONEERS: they have conjured up a funny, intriguing, and touching “vision” that is at once an homage to other great, thematically related works (Brazil, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland), and also a singular work with its own eccentric aesthetic and suppressed, joyous spirit.

Apart from the detail-obsessed writing, and diligent, eyes-wide-open directing, VISIONEERS owes much of its “holding up” to its casting choices, and in particular, the central character of George—played deftly and dead-on dead pan by stand-up comic Zach Galifianakis. The film is rounded out with many other memorable supporting appearances: James LeGros (as George’s Zen-ish, pole-vaulting brother), Judy Greer (as George’s perky, blond, “Stepfordesque” wife), Matthew Glave (as the corporate “face” of the Jeffers Corp.), Missi Pyle (as a happiness-hawking, TV talk show host), Pat Cashman (as a TV telethon host on the verge of “CHaos”), John Keister (as George’s ineffectual doctor), and Mia Maestro (as the lovely and empathetic “Charisma”), to name just a few.

What is so frustrating to me is that VISONEERS will most likely not get seen by as many people as will see, for example, the next ribald comedy from Adam Sandler. And yet, it deserves to be simply because it has so much more to offer (including a soundtrack by Tim Delaughter, of the Polyphonic Spree) than the usual, satiric, Hollywood fare. And it’s really funny, too.