Somebody Up There Likes Me (2012 film)

Somebody Up There Likes Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Bob Byington
Written by	Bob Byington
Produced by	Hans Graffunder Nick Offerman
Starring	Keith Poulson Nick Offerman Jess Weixler Jonathan Togo Stephanie Hunt
Cinematography	Sean Price Williams
Edited by	Frank V. Ross
Music by	Chris Baio
Distributed by	Tribeca Film
Release date	March 11, 2012 (2012-03-11) (South by Southwest Film Festival)
Running time	76 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Somebody Up There Likes Me is a 2012 comedy film written and directed by Bob Byington and starring Keith Poulson, Nick Offerman, and Jess Weixler.

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Plot

The film skips through 35 years in the life of Max Youngman (Poulson), following him through his courtship and marriage to Lyla (Weixler), who is also the object of affection for his best friend Sal (Offerman). Never seeming to age, Max and the adult characters closest to him stumble in and out of comically misguided relationships and happenstances that are seamlessly woven together by animated vignettes provided by Bob Sabiston (A Scanner Darkly).

Cast

Nick Offerman as Sal
Keith Poulson as Max
Jess Weixler as Lyla
Stephanie Hunt as Clarissa
Marshall Bell as Lyla's Father
Kate Lyn Sheil as Ex-Wife
Kevin Corrigan as Memorial Man
Jonathan Togo as Adult Lyle
Megan Mullally as Therapist
Anna Margaret Hollyman as Paula

Release

Somebody Up There Likes Me premiered at the 2012 South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Following a theatrical release in Spring of 2013, the film was released to VOD services such as iTunes and Amazon Video. The film is also currently available through Netflix Watch Instantly.

Reception

Critical response

The film received a mostly positive response from critics. It currently holds a 68% positive "Fresh" rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.^[1]

Writing for Indiewire, critic Eric Kohn praised the film, saying "The tone combines supreme deadpan delivery with a light, airy atmosphere that brings to mind Wes Anderson without the requisite pandering to hip expectations. There's nothing inherently cool or exciting about Max, and yet in his endless quest to find happiness in life--or in death--he's a supremely likable creation who endures multiple eras with the same passive attitude, and so emerges as an everyman for all times (including, during the quasi-science fiction finale, a version of the future that brings to mind Idiocracy)."^[2] David Lewis of the San Francisco Chronicle also praised the film, saying in his review, "American cinema has been churning out slacker movies for what seems like eons, so it's refreshing to report that Somebody Up There Likes Me enlivens the genre with a welcome breath of imagination, wit and charm."^[3]

Conversely, Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times was slightly more negative, commenting "It’s all kind of cute. Maybe a little too cute, but it does have a nice circle-of-life ending. And along the way, Mr. Byington shows a knack for observational humor, slipping in sly jokes that force you to keep paying attention despite the slim plot. Droll and interesting; just not very substantial."^[4]