Ah, the middle-class midlife crisis, also known as a white cinema of boredom. It used to be one of my favorite subgenres, exemplified by films like Fight Club, Adaptation, American Beauty, The Weather Man, Lost in Translation, Sideways, and Hannah and Her Sisters. I was a teenager going through a pre-life crisis when I saw those films, and while they're all still fantastic in their own way, I have a new perspective on that genre now. Perhaps I've seen too many films about financially secure white men who are dissatisfied with their life, but I've been disillusioned by it all.
Ah, the middle-class midlife crisis, also known as a white cinema of boredom. It used to be one of my favorite subgenres, exemplified by films like Fight Club, Adaptation, American Beauty, The Weather Man, Lost in Translation, Sideways, and Hannah and Her Sisters. I was a teenager going through a pre-life crisis when I saw those films, and while they're all still fantastic in their own way, I have a new perspective on that genre now. Perhaps I've seen too many films about financially secure white men who are dissatisfied with their life, but I've been disillusioned by it all.
Jon Hamm Is a Perfectly Cast Man
Jon Hamm is a really hilarious and skilled actor with a wide range, but it's understandable that he gets typecast most of the time. He's just excellent at playing the smart, gorgeous, successful person who is somewhat past his prime, whose wit, good looks, and success are fading; he's one calamity away from shedding the illusion of competence and simply losing it. Mad Men, Landsman, The Morning Show, and, most recently, Your Friends and Neighbors all make use of Hamm's unique talent.
After a prologue, we encounter Hamm post-disaster as Andrew Cooper (or "Coop"), yet he still maintains his cool, casual persona. Coop's wife, Mel (Amanda Peet), cheated on him with Coop's buddy, Nick (Mark Tallman), so he divorced and lost his house and a lot of money, despite Nick and Mel's affluence. It's one of the ways in which Your Friends and Neighbors may appeal to the "men's rights" mob, who are outraged by family court and child support.
Nick lives in his own, modest house and recently lost his posh job as a hedge fund manager. He was sacked for sleeping with a 28-year-old lady from a different department, who was later promoted. It's another case in which Your Friends and Neighbors appears to support the right-wing "manosphere." The series opens with this unsettling form of misogyny in how Andrew is portrayed as a fine person who is a victim of apparently gold-digging women and a culture that is more concerned with political correctness and DEI. The only women in the program thus far have ruined the lead cuckold's life.
Fortunately, things grow a little more complicated than that, as various female characters evolve into compelling three-dimensional individuals. Nonetheless, the lingering uneasiness persists, which makes sense given that gender anger and sexism are prominent themes in most midlife crisis films.
Pride comes before the crime and the fall.
Andrew is too proud to tell anyone that he's been fired—not Mel, who continues to ask for money, thinking that he's rolling in it; not Sam (Olivia Munn), another recently divorced person in their friend group who was cheated on and now hooks up for one-night stands with Coop; and not his sister Ali (Lena Hall), who has mental health issues and must move in with Coop when he can no longer afford the apartment he pays for her to live in. Coop only tells one person: his business manager, Barney (Hoon Lee). Ironically, Coop was Barney's greatest client, thus the new financial crisis affects him too. He may need to sell his Rolls Royce.
Coop's social circle is filled with Rolls-Royces, Richard Mille watches, Tom Ford outfits, and other examples of excessive commodity fetishism. Coop sees everything differently now that he's desperate. His hatred, resentment, and envy deepen as he watches his pals continue to live lavishly while hiding his own reality. When he discovers that one family is planning a trip to Belize, he breaks into their home while they are away and steals a $200,000 watch and a roll of cash. He eventually finds a sleazy pawnbroker, Jules (Jennifer Mudge), who will buy the watch without the necessary authentication papers, sparking even more illicit activity. You know what happens when crime escalates.
Aesthetic of 'Your Friends and Neighbors'
While that story point appears abrupt and random, it unfolds in a very seamless and natural manner throughout these one-hour episodes. In retrospect, it's pretty incredible; if Coop is taking from a small network of "friends," you'd think they'd figure it out. It's also strange and unbelievable that Coop has some sort of high-tech camera jammer that precisely disables everyone's cameras. There are several ludicrous incidents like this one, in which Coop takes an exceedingly costly bottle of wine and literally delivers it to a party attended by the bottle's owner.
So, obviously, Coop isn't a mastermind, and Your Friends and Neighbors isn't Ocean's 11. It's sloppy in many ways and blatantly obvious in others. It's so obvious that Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" plays as Jon Hamm drives out of suburbia in the first episode. However, this series does not require subtlety; you can tell right away that it is the same midlife crisis scenario we've seen before. But hey, it's a very well-made one.