Blucher One of the worst movies I've ever seen

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

rooprect There are comedies, there are dark comedies, and then there are comedies that are so dark that you're not sure if you're even supposed to laugh. I'm not using the word "dark " to mean "morbid" or "frightening" but instead I'm using it to mean sarcastic, very satirical, and without the usual jokes, levity & gags that usually accompany comedies. "Brazil", "Dr. Strangelove", "The Trial" and "Catch-22" are perhaps the greatest films of this category, and if you've seen any of them you probably know what an odd experience they are. You also probably know how hard it is to find films like them."The Visioneers" fits squarely in that darker-than-dark category. While this movie is categorized a dark comedy, there are no jokes, zingers & knee-slapping punchlines like the word "comedy" might imply. Instead the humor comes from the sheer bizarreness of the situation, in the satirical presentation (very tongue-in-cheek), and in the odd, mostly emotionless reactions the characters have to preposterous situations. In that respect, it is indeed similar to the classic "Brazil" which is mentioned on the DVD cover. It also has a cold, brooding vibe similar to a Charlie Kaufman flick ("Being John Malkovich", "Synecdoche NY") or the great offbeat comedies "Punch Drunk Love" and "Joe Vs the Volcano" and maybe even a hit of Truffaut's 1966 "Fahrenheit 451" (especially concerning the mind-numbed wife constantly watching TV).Insanely funny minor characters, like Missi Pyle (one of Hollywood's funniest second-fiddles) playing the neurotically unbalanced talk show host who becomes obsessed with butter, or Ryan McCann playing "Mac Luster" the Zoolander-Meets-Rambo action hero, or Matthew Glave as the Nazi health trainer, keep the comedy rolling even though there isn't a big focus on zingers and not really much action at all. A love story develops in the second half which is surprisingly sentimental and touching despite the outlandish circumstances surrounding the characters.The plot itself is a straightforward dystopian nightmare: in a not-so-distant future (though very reminiscent of the cheezy 1980s with laughably bad propaganda commercials), a mid-level manager played by Zach Galifianakis begins to "suffer" from the phenomenon of dreaming. At the same time, a weird epidemic is hitting society whereby people spontaneously explode. And the tyrannical corporation he works for seems to have an unhealthy interest in what's going on.If you immediately sense echoes of "Brazil" (the story of a corporate nobody who begins to develop a conscience) and perhaps similarities to "Joe Vs the Volcano" (same type of story), you're on the right track. "Visioneers" is a little more low key than those two, meaning there's not as much action, drama or overt comedy. But it has unique personality of its own, somewhere between the aforementioned classics and a small town satire like "Edward Scissorhands". This movie forsakes the customary surreal city setting in lieu of a more intimate suburban middle-America setting. Indeed a notable difference between this flick and the others I've mentioned is its lack of grandeur. It doesn't try to impress us with enormous sets and infinite labyrinths of skyscrapers, office desks and bureaucracies.Budget constraints are probably to blame for the lack of grand visuals, and usually I don't hold it against a film for having a low budget. But still I have to dock the film a star or two because I feel like the grand approach is the way to go when dealing with a subject like this. Going all the way back to Orson Welles' masterpiece "The Trial" or even wayyy back to the beginning with Fritz Lang's "Metropolis", powerful visuals stun audience into feeling the weight of the crushing enemy: organized society itself. But other than that minor, subjective preference of mine, I thought this movie was fantastic.The ending, if I read it correctly, is much more than meets the eye. Be sure to consider it carefully before interpreting it.If you like any or all of these films I've mentioned, don't hesitate to rent or even buy "Visioneers" (by the way, if you live near a Dollar Tree store, you can find this great title brand new for exactly $1 which will leave you plenty extra to buy some popcorn (skip the butter... that's a reference to a bizarre woman's butter obsession in the movie).When you consider it's been years, if not decades, since there's been a good absurd satire like this which is unafraid to dive boldly into the bizarre, this flick has all the makings of a modern classic. So count search your couches for change and run down to the Dollar Tree to grab this one. Or even if you just Netflix it, it'll be time well spent.

MBunge In Visioneers, filmmakers Brandon and Jared Drake have made an extended observation on how corporate, materialist existence is emotionally and spiritually dead without the slightest realization that is one of the most shallow and oft-repeated clichés of the modern age. They think they're being all subversive and such but fail to understand that requires having a point to your argument. As far as I can tell, the Drakes' only coherent message is that it's great to be the idle rich and sucks to be just one or the other. Throw in a conviction that people flipping the bird is way funnier than it is and the casting of Zach Gallifianakis as an impassive and mostly mute stoic and there's all the evidence here to indicate the Brothers Drake should pursue careers in non-cinema related fields. Perhaps running a cell phone kiosk in a grocery store or selling bicycle tires door-to-door?George Washington Winsterhammerman (Zach Galifianakis) is a Level 3 employee of the Jeffers Corporation, also known as a Tunt. He sits in a room all day with 2 other Tunts, receives phone calls from his Level 4 superiors and wears multi-lens glasses in order to do his paperwork. George's wife (Judy Greer) is a numbed drone who's preoccupied with the latest route to happiness prescribed by her TV guru (Missi Pyle). George's son never comes out of his room in their McMansion and George's ex-con brother (James LeGros) is enthusiastically taking up pole vaulting in George's massive back yard. The only good things in George's life are his own dreams of being George Washington and the calls from his Level 4 supervisor (Mia Maestro), who speaks to him with shuttered affection and sends him little smiley face notes on his daily assignments. Of course, tens of thousands of people are randomly exploding in George's world and dreams are one of the symptoms of that, so maybe there's only one good thing for him. Aside from the lovely Judy Greer and Mia Maestro, there's nothing all that good here for any viewer.Visioneers is boring, pretentious twaddle created by two guys who can barely tell the difference between a metaphor and a 2x4. Take the whole "people exploding" bit of the story. Do people explode because they suppress feelings? Do they explode because they express them in an emotionless world? In this movie, sometimes it's one and sometimes it's the other and sometimes it's apparently neither. That kind of confused unclarity is rampant throughout the picture. The Jeffers Corporation is an almost surreal place, yet it exists side-by-side with relatively normal people and places and ways of life. When George's Level 4 superior gets fired, he tracks her down and finds her waiting tables at her father's bookstore café, a place that is so entirely normal that it shouldn't be on the same planet, let alone the same city, as the Jeffers' offices. That dichotomy, however, is hardly acknowledge and never explained or examined. George and everyone else at Jeffers are weird and maladjusted. His Level 4 superior is completely normal. Why? How? Again, those questions are neither asked nor answered.The bottom line is that Visioneers is nowhere close to being as smart or insightful as Brandon and Jared Drake clearly believed it, and likely themselves, to be. A refusal to be conventionally entertaining is not, in and of itself, a mark of quality. Sometimes it's only a sign of people who aren't talented enough to make an entertaining film.There are better things to spend your time on than this motion picture. Maybe not selling bicycle tires door-to-door, but something.

moonspinner55 Orwellian comedic-drama from director Jared Drake and writer Brandon Drake pares civilization down to a desperately stress-free society filled with self-help gurus and innocuous television shows. Zach Galifianakis, an unhappily married family man who works in Level 3 of a major productivity corporation (where the company logo is the middle finger salute), attempts to avoid combustible stress as it is causing citizens to literally explode. There's no passion left in his marriage, yet the sound of a co-worker's voice on the phone reminds him of a happier time--when love ruled his heart. Nearly-ingenious bit of offbeat satire, infused with deadpan black comedy and Galifianakis' sly performance (he keeps a straight face almost throughout, though there's always a naughty twinkle in his eyes). Some of the situations fall flat, the dialogue is a bit crude, and the film runs too long at 95 minutes (cut the crusts off this material and it may have made for the perfect short). Still, the surge of feeling (and redemption) at the finale is worth waiting for, and the picture has an intriguing look and ambiance that could garner cult status. ** from ****

chapsmack I guess my review is kind of biased - if I had never seen the Hangover, I would have probably not enjoyed the movie as much as I did. Somehow ZG seems to be exuding the right kind of vibes for this year or something. Visoneers reminded me of a plethora of American movies - Hudsucker, Brazil, 1984 - all mixed into one in a somewhat subdued, indie approach. If you haven't seen any of those movies this movie would strike you odd as it is one to convey a meaning much similar to the J-horror of Kurosawa. Considering the strangeness of the movie I expected the end to be somewhat living up to it, but this is where it kind of veers back to normality which I think may have been done for a proper distribution. If you want to watch it for ZG or have a penchant for movies that make you think go ahead full steam, otherwise just wait for the next ZG one, now that he's almost famous. For attempting to make a movie like this and picking ZG before he was famous, this movie gets my 7/10.