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Recovering Texan. Full time consultant, part time writer.
While Jesse Armstrong is no stranger to critiquing the morbidly rich, the teeth—or lack thereof—in Mountainhead are almost nonexistent. Sure, his award-winning HBO series, Succession, isn’t this profound take-down of the ultra wealthy. Yet, it humanizes and grounds people who have distinguished themselves as ‘better than us’. On the other hand, his feature filmmaking debut, Mountainhead, is a dry, circular film that has nothing more than to make a joke of billionaires. Many human beings live under these people whose priority is themselves and their interests—always, and it’s low-hanging fruit to critique them. In saying so, I’m not heartless; I’m a sucker for some good, low brow social critiques. However, they don’t have to be as lifeless as it is in Mountainhead.
HBO’s Mountainhead Logline
According to Warner Bros. Discovery Press, here is the official logline for Jesse Armstrong’s feature filmmaking debut, Mountainhead.
A group of billionaire friends get together against the backdrop of a rolling international crisis.
Warner Bros. Discovery Press
Discussion
It’s clear from the jump how much Succession is baked into Mountainhead. Director of photography Marcel Zyskind’s (The Ugly Stepsister) frenetic camera movements, music composer Nicholas Britell’s (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, Don’t Look Up, Succession, Andor) large score, and the smarmy attitude from each character makes Mountainhead feel like Succession Jr. Armstrong’s HBO film is almost identical in structure to David Lynch’s film version of the Twin Peaks pilot (yes, there is a Twin Peaks film that isn’t Fire Walk With Me). It would be ignorant not to accentuate the parallels between Succession and Mountainhead. To an extent, it’s to its benefit that it bleeds so much Succession. However, Mountainhead never reaches the deviously sublime heights that Succession is rightfully known for.
Where Jesse Armstrong succeeds is in his character work, which is apparent in both Succession and here. However, Succession is able to take its time to surgically diagnose its gallery of rich misfits, whereas Mountainhead only skims the surface of these characters. Steve Carrell’s (Little Miss Sunshine, The Office, Vice, The Patient) Randall is kind but conniving; Cory Michael Smith’s (Gotham, Saturday Night) Venis is downright evil; Ramy Youssef’s (Mr. Robot, Ramy, Poor Things) Jeff feigns interest in the issues of society while enjoying the fruits of his role in the downfall of society; and Jason Schwartzman’s (Rushmore, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch, Asteroid City, Queer) “Soup” is a ‘yes man’. These characters’ dynamics with each other, even one-on-one, are interesting. However, given the limited runtime and the direction of the story, the viewer is never given much to chew on.
A Narrative that Goes Nowhere, Really
Furthermore, the story never does more than Jeff saying, “Look how terrible this is”, at a really clear atrocity, with the rest of the group responding, “Yeah man, that’s bad!” By the halfway mark, there is a shift in the film that feels sort of Three Stooges/Looney Tunes-esque. This is briefly amusing but never does anything afterward. There is much to peel underneath these characters and their respective dynamics, but the bare plot limits their own growth. Hell, by that halfway mark, I had grown tired of the group of billionaire bozos — just talking in circles with no clear direction for them.
While I do love Succession for its grounded and talky plots, viewers are given an inside look at the characters that offers more perspective and depth than we did before. Blah blah, yes, this is just basic character writing 101, but none of that was prevalent in Mountainhead. The movie sort of begins and ends—nothing gained and nothing lost exists with the characters. Unfortunately, this is the case because there are some moments I did enjoy in Mountainhead.
The character of Soup is a highlight, constantly being dogged around for being the ‘loser’ of the group. Whenever the rest of the group talks about whatever, Soup is always insistent on the cold cuts. Why do you have a bunch of cold cuts on wooden platters? You don’t need all of those cold cuts, Soup. It would be greatly appreciated in my presence, however. He’s always down for the count, the dawg of the group. Make a Soup movie, and I’ll be there, Jesse Armstrong.
Final Thoughts on Jesse Armstrong’s Mountainhead
Mountainhead is overly long, not particularly interested in its material outside of making buffoons of its characters, and doesn’t have much drive outside the turning point which happens about halfway through the film. The conflict that could have spiced the film up was always left on the side—a tagline of “humanity is in their hands” sparks some intrigue that never delivers. The buffoonery is appealing at times, even bordering on some slapstick styles of comedy, but it isn’t enough to keep this afloat. It brings me no pleasure to say the things I have about the follow-up to one of my favorite television series of all time. A much better film (Hell, even maybe a television program) lies underneath what we have now, and it’s unfortunate.
2/5 stars
Jesse Armstrong’s Mountainhead hits HBO and HBO Max on May 31st!
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Recovering Texan. Full time consultant, part time writer.
