Are You Here (2013)

Two childhood best friends, one a superficial womanizer and the other a barely functioning bipolar, embark on a road trip back to their hometown after one of them learns his estranged father has died.

Director:

Matthew Weiner

Writer:

Matthew Weiner

Stars:

Owen Wilson, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Poehler

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Owen Wilson	...	Steve Dallas
Jay Gates	...	Ramada Waiter
Jason Davis	...	George
Melissa Rauch	...	Marie
Melanie Ratcliff	...	Attractive Neighbor
Zach Galifianakis	...	Ben Baker
Naomi Lavette	...	Erin (as Naomi LaVette)
Lauren Lapkus	...	Delia Shepard
Alana De La Garza	...	Victoria Riolobos (as Alana de la Garza)
Greg Cromer	...	Kyle Robertson
Paul Schulze	...	Dave Harken
Matthew Cornwell	...	Stu
Bridget Gethins	...	Patty
Michael Genevie	...	Minister
Amy Poehler	...	Terry Coulter

Storyline

Ben Baker is a man-child who lives on his friend's couch getting high. His friend, Steve Dallas, is a moderately successful weather reporter who is living a superficial life. When Ben receives word that his father has died, Steve drives him home and they re-connect with Ben's successful and driven sister Terri and hippie step-mother Angela who is the same age as they are. The reading of the will drives Ben to come up with a new purpose in life, but those around him don't prove to be very supportive, and then they all re-examine their own lives.

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Plot Keywords:

no opening credits | friend | womanizer | road trip | best friend | 

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Taglines:

Friendship... there's nothing in it for anybody.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, drug use and some sexual content/nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 August 2014 (Latvia)

Also Known As:

You Are here

Filming Locations:

North Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gilbert Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The main street location of the family's store is Madison, North Carolina. The town's clock, mounted on the corner of a building in the background, is a memorial to those who have served in the military. The date "1919" which appears on the brick below the clock face, is the date of the building's construction as a garage. The clock's bell was cast in Baltimore, Maryland.

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Goofs

When Owen Wilson is driving in the PA town a state route sign can be seen. The route number is inside a circle. If he were in PA the route number would be in a keystone.

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Quotes

Terri Coulter: Steve, I would prefer to forego your input since it most recently resulted in my brother becoming fat, unemployed and growing that supremely anti-social beard.

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Connections

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

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Soundtracks

Air On The G String
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Courtesy of Extreme Music

User Reviews

What a beautiful little film

I don't recall ever hearing about this movie. Perhaps it was too steeped in 60's attitude for today's audiences. If so that is truly a shame because that probably means today's young people are too far removed from the era to understand it well. In today's world that is a great loss. If we could live as hippies attempted to back then, we'd be far closer to mitigating climate change than we are now and a large part of that lifestyle was the attitude. This movie captures that attitude beautifully.

Laura Ramsey as Angela, the young hippie step-mother, brought back memories for me about women who actually existed in those years, who would float through life elevating everyone around them like some magical earthbound angel. I suppose nowadays she seems implausible. But back then she was very possible and meeting someone like her was unforgettable. Ms Ramsey's depiction captures the type in a way I haven't seen done in a very long time. It was a pleasure to reacquaint myself with the woman she represents. In a lot of ways those flower children were more affecting than anyone I've met since.

The idea of the film apparently is to bring some of that ethos into the present. The two main leads, Owen Wilson and Zach Galifianakis, have no problem evoking the era and they do a splendid job. I thought both brought the right mix of humor and pathology to their parts. They seemed to understand what the movie was trying to convey, and they were quite successful for people like me. What's surprising is that younger people apparently don't get it and I don't quite understand why they wouldn't.

Amy Poehler is also in the movie but in an unattractive role. I still appreciated her contribution to the mix in what seemed like a risky departure from her usual performance.

The story revolves around two friends, pretty much drifting through life who end up supporting each other through the trauma of having one's well-off father die. That death spurs them both to grow up a bit though the transition is not easy for them. The movie is set in farm country where Amish live and coincidentally I live in that sort of country myself. It was actually a bit of a treat to see them carry on in such a setting.

I enjoyed the movie very much, understand its point completely and am really bummed to find out that very few others enjoyed it. I would recommend it to anyone familiar with that era (it's actually set in the present) and not hostile to it. Believe me from my point of view it is far more your loss than mine that this movie wasn't as praised as it should have been.