Jon Hamm as Andrew “Coop” Cooper in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors.’ Photo: Apple TV+.
‘Your Friends & Neighbors receives 6.5 out of 10 stars.
Arriving on Apple TV+ with its first two episodes on April 11th followed by one weekly, ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ sees Jon Hamm blending comedy and drama for a series about a hedge fund manager whose life has taken a real downward swing, and who turns to breaking into his rich neighbors’ mansions in order to maintain his lifestyle.
Amanda Peet as Mel Cooper in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors.’ Photo: Apple TV+.
There have been many shows about the dark underbellies of wealthy neighborhoods, where despite the well-manicured lawns and seemingly perfect mansions, the locale is a hotbed of affairs, crimes and gossip.
Trouble is, to stand out from the crowd, ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ really needed to find a truly fun new angle from which to explore it, and on the evidence of the first season, it’s not totally clear that it succeeded.
Given that Hamm made his name playing another less-than-satisfied symbol of affluent machismo with an edge in ‘Mad Men’s Don Draper, it’s not hard to see why he might be attracted to the different shades of Andrew “Coop” Cooper here.
Script and Direction
(L to R) Amanda Peet as Mel Cooper and Olivia Munn as Samantha Leavitt in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors.’ Photo: Apple TV+.
Jonathan Tropper, who made his name as a novelist and has been forging quite the cinematic career through work alongside Shawn Levy in particular (he adapted his own novel into ‘This is Where I Leave You’ that the director made in 2014 and wrote ‘The Adam Project,’ the filmmaker’s second successful collaboration with star Ryan Reynolds), and also previously created ‘Banshee’ and ‘Warrior’ for Cinemax.
Here, his back in original TV territory, even if the story of how a wealthy, entitled and slightly smug individual sees some real push back in his life doesn’t really strike you as the most innovative of concepts.
Still, with a well-used format such as this, it’s the execution that counts, and Tropper, along with his writing team, has fashioned something that mostly manages to stick the landing, at least in terms of its main character. Coop is a complicated man, far more than he first appears, and the showrunner has found a more than able talent in Jon Hamm to bring him to life.
Around him, the other characters are a little less fulfilling, but several of them work, including his troubled younger sibling Allison ‘Ali’ Cooper (Lena Hall), and Olivia Munn, doing stalwart work as Samantha Levitt, the unsatisfied housewife in the midst of a difficult divorce to whom Coop has turned for sex and fun since his own marriage collapsed.
The largely smart scripting is sometimes let down by an early over-reliance on voice-over, which despite Hamm’s ability to deliver it smoothly does dip into cliché territory from time to time. How many lectures do we really need, for example, on the shady background to status symbols such as diamonds?
On the directorial front, Tropper has found some experienced collaborators including Craig Gillespie (who is a fellow showrunner here), Greg Yaitanes and Stephanie Laing, who along with Tropper (who handles one episode himself), bring the requisite style and zip to the show, while letting the more emotional sides sit.
Pacing can sometimes be an issue, but the show in general works on a creative level, even if the balance of satire and mystery doesn’t always sit smoothly on the scale.
Cast and Performances
Lena Hall as Allison ‘Ali’ Cooper in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors.’ Photo: Apple TV+.
Jon Hamm has long proved he can handle both drama and comedy, and here he has the chance to blend them. For the most part, he runs with the opportunity, bringing both a brio and world-weariness to the main character of Coop.
He’s our way into this story, a man who is facing the slings and arrows of misfortune after his wealthy lifestyle and marriage crumbles around him, giving him a new viewpoint on life. And a yen for breaking and entering. Coop’s a fine character to follow, one with depth and perception about those around him, and while he’s not always the most likeable person, Hamm’s natural charisma still peeks through.
As his ex-wife Mel, Amanda Peet is somewhat saddled with the sassy-yet-sympathetic role of the former spouse who has moved on, but still has some affection for her former partner (and shares kids with him). Peet has had better roles, yet Mel’s effective in her own way.
Olivia Munn has more of an active role as Samantha, with whom Coop has been having an affair for a while. She brings a spiky, darkly funny energy to the role.
Elsewhere, Lena Hall brings nuance to Coop’s sister Ali, whose mental health struggles bring her back into her life, but also enjoys her own plotline instead of simply being another aspect of his. And there’s a memorable turn from Aimee Carrero as Elena Benavides, a housekeeper who becomes Coop’s partner in crime.
Final Thoughts
Aimee Carrero as Elena Benavides in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors.’ Photo: Apple TV+.
It doesn’t always overcome the strictures of its genre, and it does sometimes attempt to coast on Hamm’s natural talent, but ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ makes for a decent enough entry into the Wealthy Suburban Dark Secrets genre.
Apple clearly has enough confidence in it to order a second season before the first has finished putting out episodes (in fact, the order came before it launched), so we can expect this one to hang around the TV neighborhood for a while.
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What’s the plot of ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’?
After being fired in disgrace, Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Jon Hamm), a hedge fund manager still grappling with his recent divorce, resorts to stealing from his neighbors’ homes in the exceedingly affluent Westmont Village.
But as he finds some treasures among their possessions, Coop also discovers that the secrets and affairs hidden behind those wealthy facades might be more dangerous than he ever imagined.
(L to R) Arturo Castro, Aimee Carrero, and Mark St. Cyr at ‘The Menu’ Blu-ray release party at the Blockbuster Pop Up in Hollywood, CA. Photo: Dan Steinberg Photography.
The acclaimed movie, which was directed by Mark Mylod, centers around a young couple (Taylor-Joy and Hoult) who travel to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the famed Chef Slowik (Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.
The event was held at a Blockbuster Video Pop Up on Melrose Avenue, and served cocktails inspired by the characters in the film, as well as Chef Slowik’s “To Die For” burger and fries, which were featured prominently at the end of the movie.
‘The Menu’ Blu-ray release party at the Blockbuster Pop Up in Hollywood, CA. Photo: Dan Steinberg Photography.‘The Menu’ Blu-ray release party at the Blockbuster Pop Up in Hollywood, CA. Photo: Dan Steinberg Photography.
In attendance were actors Arturo Castro and Mark St. Cyr, who along with Rob Yang as Bryce, play Soren and Dave, respectively, who are Slowik’s greedy business partners. Also appearing at the event was actress Aimee Carrero, who portrayed Felicity, the assistant to John Leguizamo’s movie star character.
Moviefone had the pleasure of sitting down with Aimee Carrero, Mark St. Cyr and Arturo Castro at the event to talk about their work on ‘The Menu,’ their characters, the ensemble cast, director Mark Mylod, and if they are surprised by the success of the movie.
Aimee Carrero at ‘The Menu’ Blu-ray release party at the Blockbuster Pop Up in Hollywood, CA. Photo: Dan Steinberg Photography.
Moviefone: To begin with, what was it like for you as actors to be a part of this incredible ensemble cast?
Aimee Carrero: Well, it was like a play and we shot it in sequence, which is such a gift and so rare. What’s cool about the cast that Mark Mylod put together is all of us come from theater for the most part. So, we’re all used to being together, doing the same thing many times over, and just the stamina that it requires to do the same thing over and over again, not knowing where the camera is and still keeping the energy up, and still keeping it really fresh. So, I was really lucky to have a partner like John Leguizamo and have Judith Light, I mean a theater legend, Ralph Fiennes, another theater legend, and Janet McTeer. I mean, I could go on and on.
So, it was amazing. The first day I was really intimidated, but then I remember being in my trailer and thinking, okay, the only way you can mess up this job is by feeling intimidated. You got to go in and know you belong here. You can have something to offer the story. So, I gave myself a little pep talk, but nobody made me feel that way. I mean, everybody was just wonderful and so nice. It honestly felt like doing summer stock theater camp or something. It was just so much fun.
Arturo Castro: Even the days that you didn’t have lines, you had to be there. There was one scene where it’s John Leguizamo and Ralph Fiennes and they’re going at each other, and then the lines end and they start improving with each other. I remember being there. I’m like, I wouldn’t have believed you had you told me that one day I would have front row seats to watch these masters go at it. The movie had a few moments of such gratitude that I felt my chest was going to burst. So yes, it was like theater in that sense, but also just for an audience of twelve, it was wonderful.
MF: Was Ralph Fiennes intimidating to work with?
Mark St. Cyr: He takes his craft very seriously. So, when he’s there to work, he is there to work. In a way you end up being very grateful for it because he sets the tone for the whole set. Everybody’s like, “Hey, let’s treat this as a sacred opportunity while we’re here.” Then Ralph is great when he is not on set. He’s very relaxed, very generous and has a lot of fun. But when you’re there, man, he’s locked in.
Arturo Castro: He’s intimidating in the sense that the man didn’t mess up a line once, not once! One time he went, “I’m going to take that back.” He hadn’t even messed it up. He just took it back one time. I’m like, you can’t set the bar that high Dude. You got pages and pages of dialogue, and we’re fumbling like three lines a piece every five minutes. That was the intimidating part. He just said the bar too high.
Aimee Carrero: Ralph is an OBE, Order of the British Empire. He’s a theater actor. So, I was expecting someone very formal, and he’s not at all formal, which is really nice because we were all a little buttoned up when he walked in. I mean, we’d met him at a rehearsal and a lunch and stuff, but everybody’s like, there’s Ralph Fiennes.
But he was so approachable. He was so funny. He just is a curious person and wants to know about your life. So, he’ll be like, “So tell me about your husband. How did you meet your husband?” I’m like, “Really? You want to know this? You’re Ralph Fiennes, don’t you have other things to talk about?” But I think that’s what makes him a great actor, he’s really interested in people and asks people things. So, he was just a joy.
(L to R) Arturo Castro and Mark St. Cyr at ‘The Menu’ Blu-ray release party at the Blockbuster Pop Up in Hollywood, CA. Photo: Dan Steinberg Photography.
MF: Arturo and Mark, once you were cast, how quickly did you guys get to meet Rob Yang and figure out the dynamics of your three characters?
Arturo Castro: I didn’t meet these guys till I went down to Savannah. But the first day we met, we sat around discussing the script and me, Mark and Rob went out to drink. That was the dynamic, and then we started kicking it from there. We just rode the wave.
Mark St. Cyr: I met Arturo, but I didn’t know who the third Tech bro was at that time. Rob wasn’t there, so we weren’t complete until we did the table read.
MF: Can you talk about the challenge of humanizing these otherwise despicable characters?
Arturo Castro: We all know people like this, and I think there’s more than the two-dimensional factor of it. I think for me it was about people that have made something of themselves, but they come at it from a resentment point of view. Like, “Now I’m on top, so I get to be the guy and you get to feel bad because I’m on top.” These are people that have felt belittled for one reason or another, or that they had imposter syndrome and they are overcompensating on the other end. That’s how I humanize them.
Mark St. Cyr: I think that’s interesting, what you just said about how they feel like they’re on top now. Maybe they were on the bottom before because that table is all minorities, which I thought was interesting as they very easily could have cast all the tech bros as white. So in a way, you kind of get to watch the entitlement attitude that comes with having a ridiculous amount of money at your disposal. I think there are a lot of men that just prioritize money above all else. Money is important, but above all else can do some weird things to you.
MF: Aimee, John Leguizamo has publicly said that he based his “movie star” character on Steven Seagal, who he had an unpleasant experience working with on 1996’s ‘Executive Decision.’ Did you know that was where he was pulling his inspiration for the character from when you were filming?
Aimee Carrero: No. In fact, I thought he was going for a Johnny Depp thing because of the scarf, because he had that little scarf on. But he actually said that during our press junket in November when the movie was going to come out. I remember him being coy about not saying who it was, and finally half way through the junket, he was like, “Honestly, it was based on Steven Seagal.” He just said it. I was like, oh my God.
But no, in fact, I thought he played the movie star with a lot of heart. I actually felt bad for him at times. So, maybe that was his detached, delusions of grandeur kind of thing definitely coming through. But yeah, it’s funny because whenever actors are portrayed in film, it’s always so over the top and kooky. But he chose the route of, this could be an actor or it could just be a guy who’s really full of himself and no one’s ever said no to him.
MF: Aimee, without giving anything away, I felt that both Felicity and Anne, played by Judith Light, did not deserve the outcomes they received. Do you agree with that, or do you think they got what they deserved?
Aimee Carrero: Well, it’s funny because Judith and I talked about that. We talked about the idea of if you’re not making the problem better, then you’re making it worse. I think maybe out of all the people in the restaurant, they deserve to die the least. I don’t think that they were as bad as the other ones. But I think in Felicity’s case, because her mother ran a big studio, she got a job there, she was stealing money, she had no student loans.
I think part of it too, from the writer’s perspective, there has to be a catharsis that the audience feels when they’re having to pay their student loan every month, to watch someone who didn’t have to suffer that meet their end, in a funny way, it has to be cathartic. But I don’t think she was as bad as the other ones. But it does spark a question in my mind, is it okay to just not be that bad or do we have to be good?
(L to R) Arturo Castro and Mark St. Cyr at ‘The Menu’ Blu-ray release party at the Blockbuster Pop Up in Hollywood, CA. Photo: Dan Steinberg Photography.
MF: Finally, what was your experience like working with director Mark Mylod on this project, and were you surprised by the success of the film?
Arturo Castro: We were just talking about it and we feel like it comes in waves. When it came out in theaters, then it came out on HBO Max, and now that it’s on Blu-ray and DVD, so we’re just incredibly grateful. If I may say about Mark Mylod, every morning he would get to set, he would have a team meeting and he would have such humor and grace to what we were going to do for the day. He just set the tone really early in the morning for what the day was going to be. It helped tremendously for morale. So, now that people actually like it, it’s just incredible.
Mark St. Cyr: I would say about Mark, to me, he’s the most incredible director I’ve worked with, and I don’t say that to flatter him. But one of the things that really stood out for me was that he learned the name of every background artist we had and he called them by name. There were takes where they had an important storytelling moment, whether it was crossing or they had to do something. He would check in with them by name and be like, was that good for you as well?
I’ve never seen that on any set that I’ve ever been on. He really invited creative collaboration and there were times when the background artist would let him know, “Hey, there was this thing that didn’t go according to the plan, just want you to be aware of it.” It made the project better because everybody felt like they had a sense of contribution and ownership.
Aimee Carrero: He’s a dream come true. So, I knew his work. I’d never met him, but I watched all of ‘Succession,’ even before I knew I was auditioning for this. So, I’d seen that and lot of the ‘Game of Thrones’ he directed. What I didn’t know about Mark was that he started in comedy, so he did a lot of comedy before he moved into that prestige TV. That was really cool because I knew from jump that it was important to him to bring out the levity in the movie, which is a dark, black comedy. But he was amazing because I think he also was really honest. Being a TV director helps you just be like, “I’m not going to beat around the bush, this is what I need,” which is so helpful.
But also aside from that, he’s a deeply talented person, and he kept the set super light and just really supportive. So we’d get the takes as written, and then he’d always give us a freebie take. So we’d improvise, and a lot of the improv made it in. That whole bit with John and I, when he was like, “I gave you a bad recommendation to Sony.” And I said, “I know, you CC’d me on it.” That was improv. So, they kept a lot of that, which is so cool. Sometimes you don’t have the space to do that, especially if you’re on a tight budget. This was not a huge movie as far as budget goes, so time is money and he would always take the time to make sure that everybody got to do what they felt good about.
What I’m surprised by is how many people were interested in seeing it. We obviously knew we were in a dark comedy, but you’ve got to play it for real. For some reason I thought we were making this art house thing. But people were so excited to see this movie. What surprised me more than the theatrical release was when it hit the streamers. There were all these people that maybe didn’t feel comfortable going to the movie yet because of COVID, or maybe have young children. So, many people saw it on streaming, and I’ve seen more of that now than when it was in the theater. So, that was really cool.
Listen, it’s always a surprise when anything you do, people like. I’ve done a lot of clunkers, so it’s amazing anytime you get it in a movie and then you like the movie, and then people like the movie and you have a good time, that’s lightning in a bottle.
(L to R) Arturo Castro, Mark St. Cyr and Aimee Carrero at ‘The Menu’ Blu-ray release party at the Blockbuster Pop Up in Hollywood, CA. Photo: Dan Steinberg Photography.
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The movie stars Anya Taylor-Joy as Margot and Nicholas Hoult as Tyler, a young couple who travel to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant run by celebrity chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). Chef Slowik has prepared a lavish molecular gastronomy menu, but his approach to cuisine has some shocking surprises for the wealthy guests.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult about their work on ‘The Menu,’ their first reaction to the screenplay, the tone of the film, food, their characters, and working with director Mark Mylod and the rest of the impressive cast.
(L to R) Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy star in’The Menu.’
You can read our full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Taylor-Joy, Hoult, Hong Chau, Aimee Carrero, and John Leguizamo.
Moviefone: To begin with, Anya, what was your first reaction to the screenplay when you originally read it?
Anya Taylor-Joy: I’ve become very good, just due to the sheer amount of scripts that I read and the cinema that I consume, and I can usually tell where something’s going to go, or I can guess a line. In this one, absolutely not. I don’t know how anybody guesses that ending in any reality.
I was so excited by the prospect of doing something that original. Then as the cast started filling out, it just became more and more exciting because I wanted to go and play with these really talented individuals, and I was a huge fan of Mark’s work. So, it all kind of came together really beautifully.
MF: Nicholas, can you talk about the challenges of navigating the movie’s different tones?
Nicholas Hoult: Yeah, it really bounces around all over the place. That was something reading it where you’re like, “I think this is funny,” but then you’d be like, “But also horrific things are happening at the same time, so maybe it’s not funny.” That, again, was just something that Seth (Reiss) and Will (Tracy), the writers, did a really great job of creating this world that is extreme and hyper real, but also satirical and poking fun at all these extreme characters.
So, it was like a fun place to play because you could play the characters very authentically, but at the same time, they’re all larger than life characters and slight stereotypes in a way. You see them in really fun ways. So yeah, it was just great writing.
MF: Anya, Margot has a different connection to Chef Slowik from the other guests, can you talk about their relationship and why Slowik takes an interest in her?
ATJ: It’s a bizarre intimacy to explain because it’s not easy to categorize, but I think they recognize something in each other and that begins a kinship. I think for Chef it begins as desperately wanting to categorize her and then bizarrely feeling like he enjoys her pushback. He enjoys being told no, or he enjoys the fact that someone’s not being as reverential as everybody else is being.
It sounds crazy because of what happens in the movie, but I think she recognizes a wounded artist and someone who’s genuinely hurt and upset. That’s how she starts figuring him out. Those scenes were an absolute joy to play.
MF: Nicholas, can you talk about Tyler and his obsession with food?
NH: He is a real foodie. So, that was part of the research for this, which was very nice. I just got to watch food shows, go to nice restaurants and pretend to be a bit of a foodie. But I had to do it. I did it and took it upon myself and then it’s fun. It’s actually a great thing about the writing as well because a lot of the time things are so over explained, and I find as an audience member you kind of fill in the blanks or you can imagine and create your own storylines for all these people.
So, obviously sitting down with Mark and beginning this process, it was creating the relationship between these characters and how that unravels. But also, Tyler’s ideas and thoughts about Chef Slowik and what brought all these characters, I guess, to that restaurant that evening. So, it’s kind of fun to leave it in the actual film, but more up for interpretation. Then as actors to have all this backstory that when you turn up on day one and walk into the restaurant and fill in those characters, you kind of have a lot to bring to it that kind of doesn’t ever have to be said.
MF: Finally, Anya, this is one of those rare films where almost every cast member is on screen at the same time. What was that experience like, having the opportunity to work with all of the actors in this movie?
ATJ: Completely. It was amazing. Mark had told all of us that he wanted to shoot the film in a 360 degrees kind of way, and he wanted us all to be mic’d and on set the whole time because you never really knew when the camera was going to be on you. It was, I think, like a Robert Altman-style quality that he wanted to bring to it.
But what was really beautiful is, oftentimes if it’s not your scene or your closeup, you’ll go to your trailer and rest, or hang out somewhere else other than set. We just spent all of our time on set because if you weren’t acting opposite somebody as lovely as Nick or Ralph, you had front row seats to these incredible performers, and you just got to enjoy them. People would clap after takes. It was just a really beautiful, supportive environment.
