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Premiering at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2008, Visioneers popped up at a few more festivals before the idea of a theatrical release for the film was officially taken on. Now, a year after its intended release, the film has finally come to DVD. It stars comedian Zach Galifianakis, who is currently hot off the release of The Hangover, and it seems that the manufacturers are hoping that this recent success will bring in buyers for Visioneers. However, the two films have little, if anything, in common.
Visioneers tells the story of George Washington Winsterhammerman (Galifianakis), a mid-level employee at the Jeffers Corporation, the largest and most powerful company in the world. George’s life is relatively quiet until people begin exploding from stress in a sudden epidemic, and he begins to suffer from the first symptom himself. In Visioneers, the surreality is subtle and surrounded by enough normalcies that it’s surprisingly easy not to question. The world depicted is one that mimics our own. Despite its familiar appearance, it’s a world where a respectful “hello” means giving the finger, where machines are built to control your emotions and where people are literally exploding.
Galifianakis shines as he inhabits a role that seems to embrace his own naturally strange and quirky
demeanor. In his stand-up, he may be best known for beautifully playing the piano at intervals while he delivers one liners about STIs, alcoholism and the similarities between Barry Manilow and the Insane Clown Posse. That juxtaposition of beauty and the absurd, subtlety and the outlandish, is exactly what Galifianakis brings to the film. He is perfectly complemented by Judy Greer (Arrested Development), who plays his wife with the same kind of understated absurdity.
Visioneers is a spectacular vision for the first-time writer/director team of brothers Jared and Brandon Drake. Their film is not only wonderfully funny but a refreshing breath of originality. It’s terribly unfortunate that Visioneers was never given a shot at even a limited-release theater run, but it’s worth the watch for those looking for something completely different.
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