Yes, we are finally getting around to Jesse Armstrong’s HBO Films: MOUNTAINHEAD. Apparently, several eyes were on it since its premiere on May 31 on HBO, and the night prior on Max. Hey, I’m just glad Armstrong didn’t go elsewhere after SUCCESSION concluded. Apparently, instead of diving into a new series, he had a concept he wanted to get out there, and besides, a new HBO Films presentation is A-OK. I’d rather he lock into a tight movie just shy of two hours than try to flesh it out into some multi-part piece padded with fluff. Hey, who knows, maybe a full series is in the planning. For now, we will take this.
Armstrong seems to go for the affluent types, yeah? This one offers elite tech bros pushing the global market with their innovations, despite the fact that it all might be too much, too fast. It stars Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef as four big money-makers with the world as their playground. A quick breakdown on character is in order. Smith is Venis “Ven” Parish, owner of a global social network called TRAAM. He is in negotiations with Yousef’s Jeff Abredazi, owner of Bilter, a company specializing in AI. Carell plays the older mentor to these big players. He is Randall Garrett. That leaves Schwartzman as Hugo “Souper” Van Yalk, a colleague who aspires to be a billionaire like his friends. He sets out to officially join their ranks with a deal he will pitch to them during their gathering at his weekend mountain retreat.
We learn during their getaway that Souper is not the only one with ulterior motives for the weekend. Ven’s TRAAM is a less-than-perfect construct and hopes to purchase Jeff’s AI construct to boost & correct the disinformation that TRAAM generates; all to prevent Ven from backpedaling on his investment. Jeff is not all in. His application is working well on its own, and he doesn’t really want it to be absorbed into Ven’s construct. Randall is the one really grasping for straws here, as he hopes all this technology with spark medical advancements to aid him with his health crisis. These lifelong friends are assertive and insistent about what they want. That is how they got to where they are, and they are willing to push those friendships for the greater good and their greater wealth.
The bigger crisis at hand is that governments across the world are locked into TRAMM, and it is an unstable application wreaking havoc. Jeff goes up to Mountainhead to meet with his BFFs, knowing that Ven is going to gnaw away on him about the buyout to help stabilize the application. And the heat is on the second they are all in the room. Jeff trashes TRAAM, and Ven basically says that if Bilter is that awesome, then to improve me, sell it to me. Souper welcomes the snarky banter and thinks it is an opportunity for these guys to brainstorm something beneficial, and Randall thinks it is a bit of a wild fastball and the global stress all an overreaction to things not fully understood. Speaking of which, I didn’t understand all the techno-babble and financial lingo, but thankfully, I didn’t lose interest.
Okay, I hit a stalling moment in all the witty and snarky banter here. As they watch chaos play out over the world, we see that Jeff is appalled by it all. The others seem to see it as a controlled burn and therefore good for the ecosystem and what will spring out of it. Ven is counting on what springs out of it is great for him. Great dialogue, but I see it turning off some viewers. All this banter goes on while they are on hold to talk to the President. Finally, that call comes, and we move the story onward. Ven talks to POTUS privately. He walks away with the idea that they have the power between them to ignore POTUS and seize control? Do they? Is this a loose plot hole here? At this point, this film starts to get really interesting.
Jeff privately approaches Randall, who is one of Traam’s biggest investors, with a proposal to wrest control of the company from Ven and cooperate with the US government’s desires to install security measures. Randall, believing Jeff’s plan will ruin his hope of surviving cancer, discloses the scheme to Ven and Souper, and the three of them hatch a plan to kill Jeff and take control of Bilter. Really, is this a viable plan? At any rate, we run with it. After bungled attempts to silence, Jeff is cornered and agrees to work out an agreement for the greater good to sign Bilter over to Ven.
Will that solve the crisis? In case you haven’t seen MOUNTAINHEAD, we opt to leave it at that. But it is a great satirical comment about the tech bros of today and their level of thinking and commerce. It is a dark comedy and an absurdist comedy at the same time. Armstrong does a good job of wrapping that all up in a great little tale that leaves us wondering what would play out if the tech world did hold some master algorithms that could wreak havoc. I don’t think it would be all as absurd as this has been. We’ll await that outcome and enjoy this HBO Film Presentation in the meantime.
