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Released By: Anchor Bay
Released On: 06/21/2011
Director: Josh Radnor
Cast:Josh Radnor, Kate Mara, Malin Akerman, Pablo Schreiber
The Film:
Long have I been a champion for movies filmed in New York City. 1950's, 60's, 70's….it doesn't matter. New York City is, as anyone who has been there will tell you, a character in and of itself. That character has added to the atmosphere of many of my favourite films; Death Wish, Taxi Driver, Defiance, and even The Odd Couple. But, no more. No more will I be able to enjoy a film simply because it's filmed in the Big Apple. And that is because there is a disease upon us. And that disease is the result of independent hipsters assuming that just because they're from New York City, they're instantly awesome. Aside from having one of the most annoying titles ever, Happythankyoumoreplease is guilty of rampant, pretentious hipsterism on the same level as the show Friends. If you liked Friends, you'll love this. If you're naí¯ve enough to think that you can aimlessly wander from Borough to Borough at all hours of the day without working a real job and then come home to your gigantic apartment in Manhattan that you can magically afford to pay for, Happythankyoumoreplease may be a film that you will enjoy.
Happythankyoumoreplease (I swear, I will only type that ONCE more in this review) attempts to focus on the lives of seven New Yorkers; essentially, three couples and one kid. This is the first mistake. Because the focus is so wide, there's no real time for any character development, leading me to believe that I should just like these people because they're quirky and live in NYC. The film spends most of the time on Sam Wexler (Writer/Director/Actor Josh Radnor), a short story writer who can't quite hack it in the novel business, as he unsuccessfully makes his way through life, having left a string of assumed failed relationships and one-night stands in his wake. On his way to meet a publisher about a novel that he's written, Sam comes across Rasheen, a young kid separated from his foster family on the subway. When Rasheen balks at being taken to the police station and explains in about 8 seconds that he doesn't like foster care, Sam decides to take him in. WHY he does this is not explained, leaving me to believe that this is another attempt at half-assed character development; if Sam's NYC writer status isn't cool enough for you to like him, the fact that he just saved a small ethnic child from the evils of foster care oughtta hammer it home. Anyway, Sam takes the kid home, but on the way, runs into Mississippi, a local barmaid and performing vocalist from (d'uh) Mississippi, whom he quickly falls for. As is expected, as his relationship with Mississippi unfolds, his illegal kidnapping of a child becomes an issue; but not much of one. And only for a minute or so.
Sam then gets invited to a party, hosted by his friend, Annie (Malin Akerman) who has Alopecia and issues with men. While trying to ditch her loser musician ex-boyfriend, Annie allows herself to be taken out to dinner by her nerdy and stalkerish co-worker, Sam #2 (Tony Hale), and learns that beauty is only skin deep, blah blah blah. This relationship is actually the high point of the film, thanks to the acting talents of Akerman and Hale…moreso, Hale…who create the only real characters in the film.
The other couple are some guy who wants to move to Los Angeles, and his girlfriend who doesn't. If they're in the film for more than 15 minutes, I would be surprised.
As near as I can tell, the film is an attempt to tell the story of seven average people with problems, and to intertwine their stories with the goal being some kind of heartwarming, abrubt outcome. In reality, it comes off like a few character traits and names thrown into a hat, mixed up, and then dumped out onto a table. There are a few moments where some kind of intelligence seeps out into the dialogue, but they're few and far between. It might just be me. The average person may like this.
One of the worst parts of this film, which is also one of the praises that the filmmakers sing, is the soundtrack. Comprised predominantly of songs by New York “Anti-Folk†performer Jaymay, the music consistently comes off like the “Jimmy stayed in the program for 2 weeks before relapsing†end segment of Intervention, and is as dull and plodding as the film itself. You may, like me, find yourself fast-forwarding parts of the film with Jaymay's songs. If you thought that the Jewel song about getting up and shutting off the alarm and making toast was a nifty idea, you may like the soundtrack, and want some Jaymay on CD.
Overall...well, I don't think that I realized how much I disliked this film until I started writing about it. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, except for my mother, who loves every film that I can't stand and will usually end up owning multiple copies in different formats. It shouldn't even register. It's just not…noteworthy.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Happythankyoumoreplease comes to blu-ray from Anchor Bay in a 2.35:1 transfer with a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track. The transfer is crisp with solid black levels and no visual issues to speak of. The audio track is also more than adequate, with subtle use of the surrounds. Most of the film, outside of the grating score, is dialogue-driven, so don't expect to have to turn down the bass.
Anchor Bay has also included a few extras. First up is Happythankyoumoremusicplease, a look at the music in the film, and more specifically, Jaymay herself. Josh Radnor talks about how he chose Jaymay for her “New York Feeling†songs, and Jaymay discusses the meaning and inspiration behind some of the songs that are in the film. The featurette runs almost seven minutes.
Next up are some Deleted Scenes, which really do nothing to expand on the characters at all. They run almost nine minutes.
A Trailer is also included.
Rounding out the extra features, and accessible through the Audio Setup option, is a commentary with Writer/Director/Actor Josh Radnor and Producer Jesse Hara. While they do discuss some of the technical aspects of the film, such as location shooting and casting, most of the commentary is a description of what's going on in the film as they're watching it, and inside jokes and comments. It's about as interesting as the film is.
The Final Word:
In case it wasn't clear, I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone. The story is not worth discussing, the characters are bland and under-developed, and it seems to not be based in reality in the least. The only thing that I can say is that if you like the film, Anchor Bay's blu-ray is a quality product that is not barebones.
