Bob Byington’s quirky, offbeat indie Somebody Up There Likes Me is the tale of Max Youngman (Keith Poulson) who, unlike the rest of us, doesn’t seem to age, and alongside his best mate Sal (Nick Offerman), experience the highs and lows associated with life, love and loss.
With Max and Sal as well as Max’s wife Lyla (Jess Weixler), Byington has created some rather unconventional characters which makes for interesting viewing as well as moments of excruciating honesty, awkwardness and laughs. And with enough witty one-liners as well as the odd moment of profound dialogue, the film’s pace moves along nicely. The trouble is however, that any profound moments or highs which the film reaches are not able to be sustained and due to the characters oddness and in the case of Max, almost nihilism, you never quite feel a deep enough connection to any of them to care enough about them.
On the evidence of Somebody Up There Likes Me, Byington has a considerable amount of talent and he manages to get solid performances from his cast from a storyline that’s both quirky and original; the latter being an achievement in itself these days. It’s the kind of film that will divide an audience; yet not so much that you can’t all agree on something and unfortunately, not enough to leave any lasting impression.
