1 day Ago By Craig Mathieson
Your Friends and Neighbours ★★★★ Jon Hamm’s leading man looks, which Mad Men weaponised for his portrayal of the iconic Don Draper, have just started to fade. It’s perfect timing. In this knotty, expansive drama about holding on by any means, Hamm has greying hair and hints of a gut.
It’s just right for Andrew “Coop” Cooper, a 48-year-old Wall Street go-getter who, having already untethered from his wife, Mel (Amanda Peet), and two teenage children, falls into bed with a junior staffer at his company and gets fired. John Hamm plays Andrew Cooper, who starts robbing the rich when he’s fired from his Wall Street job. Credit: No career, no home, and too many bills.
It’s a cost-of-living crisis 1 per cent-style – $30,000 for a charity dinner ticket suddenly hits hard. Nonetheless, creator Jonathan Tropper ( Banshee ) and Hamm soon have you invested in Coop’s comeback. First, they make the secretly broke protagonist look anew at the excess he blindly pursued in the wealthy upstate New York enclave of Westmont Village.
Coop realises he was racing to accumulate status instead of satisfaction. Second, to make ends meet he starts to steal from neighbourhood mansions. “I’m not a thief,” Coop insists to the unimpressed Bronx fence he sells stolen $200,000 watches to, and the show explores every side of the assertion, starting with the ease with which Coop’s entitlement goes from living a privileged life to justifying thieving from his social circle.
He is regretful, hopeful and dismissive; too proud to let anyone know he got canned, except for his friend and business manager Barney Choi (Hoon Lee), and too used to getting his way to fully think through his risky career pivot. Amanda Peet plays Andrew Cooper’s wife, Mel, who begins to question her life of excess in Your Friends and Neighbours. Credit: Your Friends and Neighbours is less of a crime procedural and more of a panoramic study.
The anthropological detail comes with a satiric sneer – “I’ve been one of those assholes,” Coop says in voiceover, watching his rich pals – and the plot unfolds the supporting cast with surprising detail. Mel starts to look anew at Coop as his surreptitious new circumstances alter his outlook, but the man she left her husband for, Coop’s former friend and retired professional athlete Nick Brandes (Mark Tallman), is never merely a cliche. As Coop’s needs grow, including supporting a younger sister recovering from a mental breakdown, musician Ali (Lena Hall), the stakes get bigger and his eyes get opened.
Coop realises he’s not the only local leading a dual life, while he gets called on his still hefty privilege by Elena (Aimee Carrero), one of the legion of unseen domestic staff that keep their wealthy employers insulated. All these entanglements are thoughtful and fuse-shortening, with Hamm giving an exemplary lead performance. Sticky fingers, sticky show.
Your Friends and Neighbours is now streaming on Apple TV+. Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday .
.
