Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody? (2005) User Reviews

Heck, it's not a great film but John C. Reilly makes it likable

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 27 November 2008]

There is something disarming about John C. Reilly's screen persona that makes you want to like him. In silly films such as TALLADEGA NIGHTS and WALK HARD, even if I didn't love the film (such as with WALK HARD), I found myself liking the character played by Reilly--even with his many foibles.

Here, Reilly stars in a black and white short where he simply asks people "Are you the favorite person of anybody?". I assume the people were all actors, but the film has the look of reality about it. What was interesting is that the film got you to think about this for yourself--a potentially sad and lonely or affirming question indeed. While nothing dramatic or life-changing, this was a likable and interesting little film.

A question we need to ponder a bit more

[StevePulaski · 8/10 · 21 March 2014]

Miguel Arteta's Are You The Favorite Person of Anybody? is a short to deeply contemplate not so much in what it provides us but how we could reply to the short film's central question. It stars John C. Reilly as a socially-awkward businessman with a clipboard asking passersby on the street "are you the favorite person of anybody?" and quickly following it up with "are you anybody's favorite person?" He gives them a list of stock-options found on typical standardized tests (IE: "very certain," "confident," "think so," etc). Despite clearly being a piece of fiction, the passersby respond with believable apprehension and confusion. One woman cites her ex-girlfriend with complete confident to the fact that she is her favorite person, however, with more contemplation, changes her answer from "very certain" to "confident." Arteta, whose short-hand filmography contains the very funny and underrated Cedar Rapids along with the quirky comedy Youth in Revolt, keeps the focus on Reilly, who retains his socially-awkward, sore-thumb quality and the question provides for unmistakable pondering on behalf of the viewer. Are you the favorite person of anybody and why?

Starring: John C. Reilly. Directed by: Miguel Arteta.

Simple, poignant short about being loved

[Fortwayner · 22 December 2005]

This is a simple, poignant short film, shot on a budget of $150: a man with a survey stops passersby and asks them, "Are you anybody's favorite person?" What a heartbreaking question, for somebody who DOESN'T come first in somebody else's heart! Miranda July, who wrote the short story this is based on, had just finished shooting ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW and made this film in the week between shooting and editing the first rough assembly. Miguel Arteta, who directed, was still in love with her at the time, and in an interview with WHOLPHIN said, "The shoot was painless but sure enough, by the time I started editing, we were broken up. This little short is like a rear-view mirror that survived a fabulous, painful crash."

Are you the favorite film of anybody?

[Pencho15 · 5/10 · 26 December 2013]

I enjoy discovering rare films and voting for them in the IMDb, so sometimes I just look for a random short film, try to find it in the web and if Im successful I watch it and rate it. That's how I found Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody? starring John C. Reilly. The black and white short film was written by Miranda July and directed by Miguel Arteta and then it was finished by Arteta alone after he broke up with July. The film is completely in black and white and it has a very simple but interesting idea, John C. Reilly is on the street making a survey to find out if the person he talks too think they are anybody's else favorite person. It's a great set up and while the characters interviews people you watch with interest waiting to see what will come out from this. However it all ends in disappointment. After a woman that gives a positive answer, a man that gives a negative answer and a third person that refuses to answer the film abruptly finishes, and I was left wondering what was the point of all of this? It feels like and unfinished piece of film that could have been something else but ended in nothing. For what I read the film has been given good reviews for posing an interesting question to viewers, and I found myself not only figuring what I'd answer, but also wondering if my favorite persons would think about me and give a positive answer if they were asked the same question. But that interesting question is all you'll take from this film. It would have been great if the story led somewhere because this had potential, but regretfully it just ended in a possibility and not in a reality.