Why Jon Hamm’s ‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ is crime dramedy gold
Actor Jon Hamm tackles dark comedy and crime in “Your Friends and Neighbors.”
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Let’s be honest. It’s good to be Jon Hamm.
For starters, the guy vibes like a modern-day Cary Grant: He’s great-looking and able to turn on the acting drama and comedy with equal ease.
On top of his impressive film and TV resume, he’s now commanding eyeballs as a scheming oil baron on Taylor Sheridan’s “Landman,” will return as four-time host of “Saturday Night Live” this weekend, and is kicking off his latest streaming series, Apple TV+’s “Your Friends & Neighbors” (first two episodes now streaming, then weekly on Fridays).
Compliment the guy, sure. But just don’t call him lucky.
“I love what I do, and yes, I’m fortunate to get to pick and chose what I do, but I’ve earned it, and I say that without any shame,” says Hamm, 54, whose performance as ad man Don Draper in AMC’s hit 2007-15 series “Mad Men” shot him to stardom, where he has remained through standout roles in movies such as “Bridesmaids” and “Baby Driver” and TV shows including FX’s “Fargo” and Apple’s “The Morning Show.”
This time he’s back with a vintage Hamm performance that blends his ability to convey both solemnity and humor as Andrew “Coop” Cooper, a recently divorced hedge fund manager and father of two who loses his job and decides the easiest way to support his expensive lifestyle is to rob his tony friends and neighbors. The series also stars a convincing Amanda Peet as Coop’s ex-wife, Mel, and a compelling Olivia Munn as his tormented lover, Samantha.
With remarkable ease, Coop manages to repeatedly slip into the mega-mansions of his suburban New York neighborhood and pilfer wildly expensive bags, wines and watches, items whose absences mostly go unnoticed given the excess on display.
“One of the taglines for the show on a billboard somewhere said simply, ‘You don’t know what you’re missing,’” Hamm says before chuckling. “As a former fictional ad man, I really enjoyed that tagline.”
Hamm hopes ‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ will reprise ‘Mad Men’ magic
Speaking of “Mad Men,” which ended a decade ago, Hamm says he appreciates not just how the show made him a household name but also how it captivated audiences with a modern show set 60 years in the past. He hopes “Your Friends & Neighbors” can also captures today’s zeitgeist.
“‘Mad Men’ was a show that penetrated the culture, and while a lot of that is luck and right place/right time stuff. There are elements in this new show that speak directly to the times we’re living through, specifically this bizarre fascination with more, (and) how ‘more’ has become the watchword, instead of ‘enough.’”
Stealing isn’t exactly an honorable thing to do, but for Coop, the act is less a crime and more a way to showcase just how out of touch the ultra-wealthy can be when, for example, you’re unaware when a $350,000 watch is missing.
“That’s an absurd amount of money to most people, but to a very isolated group of people, it’s not even worth thinking about,” he says, shaking his head.
The actor pauses to weigh his next words before offering his measured social commentary. “We are in a weird moment in our collective culture with late-stage capitalism and rampant materialism and so many billionaires doing, um, interesting things with their money that could seemingly be better spent on making the whole world a better place, rather than just buying a bigger boat or going to space more.”
Almost makes the Gordon Gekko “greed is good” 1980s look quaint?
Hamm laughs. “Yes, (convicted junk bond king) Michael Milken is almost a charitable figure now.”
Hamm says this rich entertainment age is ‘a great time to be an audience member’
There’s one aspect of our current age that leaves Hamm positively rapturous: the sheer variety of entertainment choices for actors and viewers alike.
“It doesn’t matter if the project is from a studio or a streamer if the script has something compelling. Look, Julia Roberts has appeared on TV, Sean Penn and Harrison Ford are on TV, and Nicole Kidman is on, well, everything. The line isn’t even blurred anymore, the line is just gone.”
Hamm adds that as an actor and producer, he’s floored by the depth and breadth of storytelling. “I was just watching the (Netflix) show ‘Adolescence,’ and wow, what a tremendous achievement that is, not just the story, but the filmmaking, too. And look at shows like ‘Baby Reindeer’: There’s just so much coming down the pike from so many sources. It’s not only a great time to be an actor, but also a great time to be an audience member.”
Given that comment, you might think Hamm would agree that today’s fare far outstrips anything made when Hamm was a kid plunked down in front of a TV in St. Louis, Missouri. And then you’d be slapped down, immediately and politely, as is Hamm’s way.
“No, no, I’d say it wasn’t worse, it was just different,” Hamm says, before riffing on his favorite shows from the ’70s and ’80s. “I liked ‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ and I liked ‘Fish’ and ‘Barney Miller.’ I loved ‘Three’s Company’ and ‘The Love Boat.’ There are good things in all our time periods, though some were better than others, sure.”
Is there one old show for which Hamm will brook no criticism? Turns out there is.
“I’ll tell you what, ‘Miami Vice’ still holds up,” he booms with a smile.
Here’s rooting for a Hamm-led “Miami Vice” reboot. Don Draper, meet Sonny Crockett.
