Visioneers
by Jared Drake
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DVD details
Actor: James LeGros, Judy Greer, Mia Maestro, Missi Pyle, Zach GalifianakisDirector: Jared Drake
Brand: Hart Sharp Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-07-21
Audience Rating: Unrated
Model: 670628
Studio: Virgil Films and Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Visioneers
DVD Review: Blind in One Eye, Can't See Out of the Other
Summary: 2 Stars
It's rare that a film turns me off within its first few seconds. In fact, I don't ever remember it happening before. In 'Visioneers', the protagonist, George Washington Winsterhammerman, a descendent of the first president, is a level three visioneer in the mammoth Jeffers Corporation. In the opening shot, he is entering his workspace - he pauses in front of the Jeffers company logo, greets the sign, and flips it the bird.
This single action - no matter what its context - seems so sophomoric and puerile that it put the entire film into a hole out of which it was never able to climb. That the hand gesture, in this minutes-into-the-future world, has lost its old meaning and is now a sign of camaraderie in the Jeffers workplace only makes it worse - by showcasing this ironic contrivance in the opening seconds of the film, the fraternal writer/director team of Jared and Brandon Drake reveal more about themselves than the setting of the film. I know they are trying to be ironic - if, from my summary, it sounds witty, or clever, or edgy, then this may be a film for you.
In the soulless world of 'Visioneers', the problem is unsatisfactory life amidst luxurious plenty. The vast conglomerate of the Jeffers Corporation is working to eradicate all unhappiness, but without an unhappy yin to hang a happy yang on, people are little more than productive automatons. The stress builds, and they respond by exploding - literally. George Washington Winsterhammerman is beginning to show symptoms of exploding himself, which propels him on quest to recover his humanity.
'Visioneers' is a satire of the modern corporate world, along with our consumer culture and society's tendency to avoid pain at all costs. These are bona fide targets - but it seems to me that a successful satire should be a wake up call, an exposé of bloviating pretensions and hidden mechanics at work in a society. I thought the idea of people exploding under stress was a good premise to wrap such a satire around, but the Drakes don't dig deep enough. The result is a parade of routine observations - that the cubicle culture can be a stifling, creativity-killing environment; that corporations don't really have our best interests at heart; that personality cults are rather shallow and unfulfilling - the list goes on, but there are no insights or eye-opening revelations here that aren't already apparent to anyone paying attention. Even so, it could still work as straight parody, except I found little to laugh at.
Midway through the film, George's older brother, Julieen - a man who had at one time been even higher in the Jeffers Corporation's hierarchy than George had - throws away all his advantages and moves into George's pool house. And takes up pole vaulting. The sub-text is that the only way to keep from exploding in this world is to follow your dream. Julieen becomes a cultish figure, and attracts a following that over time turns into a perpetual carnival - but he points out to George that even his followers don't get it. They're doing the same as the cubicle crowd, except instead of sacrificing their dreams on the alter of commercial goods and slavish devotion to corporate America, they've laid theirs at the feet of hedonism.
Fair enough, and by far the most astute perception in the film. Except pursuing a dream implies hard work toward personal fulfillment - three quarters through the film, it becomes increasingly clear that George's dream is to abandon his family and track down a fantasy woman he constructed out of a voice on the phone. The idea that true love conquers all has its place, I suppose, but George's course of action is nothing more than a selfish pursuit of another thing or person to make him feel better about himself, thereby skipping painful self-examination - which is exactly what the director has spent most of the film setting up for ridicule.
Bed hopping must be one of the worst ways to avoid growth pains, and I can only assume lack of real world experience on the part of the filmmakers would make them think otherwise. Unfortunately, in the artificial world of film, the drawbacks to this behavior are concealed behind swelling heart music and a fade-to-black before anyone has to suffer the consequences of their actions. Of course, storytelling like this is common - it's comforting - but it seems as though the writer missed the point of his own story. Chasing after our dreams may very well keep us from exploding, but dreaming of passion is a poor substitute for being passionate about a dream.
Description of Visioneers
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