Movie Review: ‘Andy Somebody’

Review by Hunter Miele

Getting revenge on an evil boss is a fun concept that nearly everyone can relate to. “Andy Somebody” is a classic revenge story about “sticking it to the man,” yet it gives us nothing to hope for and no one to root for.

The film opens with the title character, Andy Fielder, a middle-aged, out-of-shape man crying in his car while the opening credits roll. He’s listening to a slow, melancholy song about how time slips away and all that’s left is misery. It’s safe to assume that this guy has had it pretty rough for a good length of time. Andy makes his way into his office where he stares at his computer screen looking utterly miserable. We learn that Andy is the accountant for Dr. Shifflett, a sleazy plastic surgeon. Right from the opening scene, Shifflett does nothing but tell Andy how embarrassing and useless he is. Andy goes outside to let off steam by mumbling curses at Shifflett and stomping around the parking lot. Unbeknownst to Andy, there are two goofy cops staking out Shifflett’s office. They mock Andy for a while, and their banter feels forced and uncomfortable, with their goofiness being played up a little too hard. They consistently drink from a flask and smoke joints throughout the film, a joke that doesn’t really land the first time and then quickly becomes very tired by the second and third time.

It turns out that Shifflett is committing fraud, hence the stake-out. Andy- being his accountant- is aware of this, and so he decides that it might be possible to get away with funneling 3 million dollars of Shifflett’s money into his own account. After committing the crime, Andy flees from Chicago to Los Angeles, where he convenes with his friend Joy. Joy- a novelist- was introduced earlier in the film via cut scenes involving a meeting with a publishing company. It took too long for the connection between the characters to be revealed, which led to longstanding confusion. Joy is livid when Andy forces her to be connected to his crime by showing up on her doorstep, and the two of them spend the remainder of the film figuring out how to get Shifflett and his dopey henchman off their tails so that Andy can escape with the money.

Although “Andy Somebody” is feature-length, it feels as though there isn’t enough time nor opportunities to establish its many characters. At no point in the film does Andy ever feel like a character worth rooting for, which is a massive letdown considering he’s the title character. The film tries half-heartedly to create relationships between the characters that never seem to go anywhere or add to the story, because every character feels like a stranger.

Throughout the film, we learn that a few of the many characters have recently lost their fathers, including Andy. This is a theme in the film that never connects to the main story, but rather feels like a cheap attempt to add some touching element and make us feel sorry for Andy, and it just doesn’t work. Although the story is bland and the chemistry between the actors non-existent, there were a handful of jokes that deserved a hearty chuckle. With those couple of jokes being “Andy Somebody’s” only redeeming quality, it’s safe to say that the film felt like a much more awkward version of “Office Space.”

**Available on VOD April 18th**