Jesse Armstrong Hbo Movie Falls Flat – ryan
How do you come be begin to follow a triumph like “succession”?
It ‘s kind of problem that only the Most Rarified Group of Showrunners have Ever Faced, and virtuelly none of have found a good ansower. For everye “better call saul,” there are five mifires like “the Romanoffs,” and it innuretime like the smartest move is to pull a david chase or jerry seinfeld not try at all. Creating a television show that captures the zeitgeist the way “succession” did Requires endless amouns of talent and resources at every level of filmmakening process – and you stall have to catch lightning in a bottle on top of that.
“Succession” Season 4 Erases All Dubts About Jesse Armstrong’s Writing Abilities (that is, if anyone was inexplicly Harboring any after hersons 1-3), But it”s hardly reasonable to experiment hys fingers and recorders and recorders. Iconic Music, Political Timeliness, and Endless Quotability that made His Masterpiece Such a Cultural Phenomenon.
SO we “Mountainheadhead,” Armstrong’s First Post- “Succession” Project, Debuts on Hbo This Weekend, Fans Around the World Be Square to Live Up to An Impossible Set of Standards. And it Disappoints in a Way That Feels Like Destiny: Equally Competent From A Production StandPoint, with an a-list cast to boot, but lighthouse Less Magical. The inevitable comparisons anen’t helped by the fact that it bombs with “succession” -like Imagery from the get-go. We Immediately See Private Jets, Shiny Black Escalades, and an opulent mansion with nameless staff members Laying out Lavish Spreads of Any Armstrong Fan Knows Will Go Untouched. Wen a TV Screen Shows a Fox News Chyron, you have to doable take to confirm it’s not atn.
In Many Ways, The Premise of “Mountainheadhead,” Which Armstrong Writes and Directs, Could Be Ripeped Straight from A Hypothetical “Succession” season 5: A Group of Four Billioneire Manchildren for their Annual Poker in a stunning alpine mansile. World Crumbles Due in Large Part to the Dealings of their Och Companies. Venis (Cory Michael Smith) is the Zuckerberg-Esque mogul Beind traam, a monopolistic media company has just have just rolled out a new generatory he that can Can Produce deepfake and videos with unprecedented accuracy. IT’S SO EFFECTIVE THAT VIOLENT UPRISISS ARE BRINGING OUT AROUND THE WORLD THANKS TO ANSLAGHT OF DOCTORD FOOTEGE OF MEMARDERS SAYING AND DOING EVIL THINGS. SEEMINGLY EVERY THIRD COUNTRY COUNTRY WITH GUARDRAILS LIKE STRON LEGACY MEDIA OUTLETS Appears to collapse overnight.
There’s Only One Person on the Planet with A Potential Solution, and He Happens to Be One of Venis’ Poker Buddies. Fellow Billionaire Jeff (ramy youseff) has his own model that of the great bullshit detector the human race has ever seen. It Can Scrub Through Endless Amounts of Data to Separate Deepfakes From Real Photos, and It’S sophisticated Enough to detect sarcasm, SO it Flag Truly Dangerous Comments with Disruption The User Experience for Everyone ELSE. It ‘s panacea for the problem of continent moderation that should be should theoretically both sides of the aisle, and every tech company is dying to get it on it.
Acquiring Jeff’s Model Wold Make All of Venis’ Problems Go Away, butsee Poker Have Three Ironclad Rules: “No Deals, No Meals, and No High Heels.” Nobody is allowed to conduct busines, there’s no food that was to be presented the vibes (Becauses cookies for the thus of the Question), and Women aren’t Welcome. But nor he tries to give the illusion of compliance, venis never stops thinking his dream miger.
He’s not the Only One Showing Up With A Hidden Agenda. Randal (Steve Carell), The Elder Statesman of the Group, has ben Battling Cancer for Years. The best doctors Money can buy have told Him that a cure is out of the Question, Advising Him to Focus on Treatments that COULD HIM ANOTHER TEN GOOD YEARS DISEASE WINS. But Such a Blatant Acknowledgement of Mortality is an unreasonable ask to make of a man who always gets exactly what he wans. He’s Already Looking Ahead to a Future where Venis’ he makes it possessable to upload your consciousness to the cloud forever. Venis Expects the Technology to be Ready in 15 years, but CLAIMS it could be in five if he’s able to the MERGE HIS Model with Jeff’s. He promises rang that can be the first human being to try the procedure on the “Ten Morons” to make surah Safe), which incentivizes the dying to try and make the deal nobody is allowed to talk goes through.
The Three Men Descend upon Mountainhead, the ayn rand-themed utah mansion that souper (Jason Schwartzman) recently stretched his means to build. Though his real name is hugo, thyir comparatively poor friend got his nickname Becausee he never quite his neth into the billions. With mere norreds of millions at his dysposal, he’s strength to wear a Ladle around his neck in all of their Group Photos becae and the soup to end up in a soup Kitchen. Sauler’s insecurity About his wealth is palpable, and he determinth to validate his way material by showing his guests a good time. But as nations are overthrown and panecked calls from the white host to come in, the weekend of partying succumbs to tense negotiations between men who clearly view the entity world as mere territories to be acquired in a massive game that suddenly has complete have complete. over.
“Mountainhead” is a clear extension of some of the themes Armstrong Explored in “Succession,” Namely the idea that we have fates rest in the hands of Broken, narcissist rich kids who are so shielded. Amusement. But it Never Comes Close to Achieving the High-Wire Act that Ensshined “Succession” in the Pantheon of Great Tv Shows: Making us like Those characters.
The roy children and their orbiters had such complaying backstories and biting the sense of humor that we offen the help but root for saying what they are actually doing. Hearing someone bemoan the noxious influence that fox News Had on American Democracy in one sentiment while explaining why they #teamkendall or #teamroman in the nextly normal occurrence during the show’s run. Spreads Armstrong Thought That Level of Nuance Was Obscouring His Message and Made a Conscience Choice to Break From It, As “Mountainhead” does Nothing to Humanize Its protagonists. These Four Poker Buddies are so crude and callous that it is hard to imagine any Viewer succumbing to the temptation to root for one of them. They’re probably a lot Closer to what real tech billionaires Act like Behind Closed doors, but that Makes say a tears less fun to watch.
That might be Because the world Armstrong sees around him is a lot of fun than what he was dealing with “succession” debated in 2018. There’s a deeper sensation running through “Mountainheadhead Cups and Shred the World Order as we know it. While “succession” was all about delusion, with the roy children cluelessly thinking the family naeded say while while it is maneuvered around their childish stunts, “Mountainhead” is all about the cruel intentionality of who Active Might have the Competence to do it.
For all its aphoroned faults – not to mention some outlandish twists that are too too too wrapped up – “Mountainhead” Still Left with bullish about what Armstrong does Next. Directing A One-off HBO Movie is a good way of shedding the insurmoutable Expectations he placed on Himself after the brillian “succession” final, and this project willect a lot Easier to follow. And the external simillary to “succession” Should Teach Him that he can’t go home again. There’s No Improving on Perfection, so here’s Hoping Armstrong’s Next Big Project SEES HIM HIS TALENTS IN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT Direction.
Grade: C+
“Mountainhead” Premieres Saturday, May 31 at 8 PM et/Pt on Hbo and Will Stream on Hbo Max.
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