Your Friends And Neighbors Review: Jon Hamm Returns To Form In Apple TV+'s Dark Comedy

Every time we see Jon Hamm's name on a cast list, we send a silent prayer to the movie and TV gods that he'll finally, at long last, have found a job that utilizes his talents as well as "Mad Men" did (even though he apparently wasn't supposed to star in that show at all). "Your Friends and Neighbors," a dark crime comedy, gets us part of the way there. This is the meatiest role that Hamm has been able to sink his teeth into in quite some time, and he does an excellent job with the character of a hedge fund millionaire who becomes a cat burglar after losing his cushy white-collar job. It's just a shame that the show his performance is in service of has more than its fair share of issues. And try as he might, even his charismatic screen presence isn't enough to make us fully invested in the wild exploits of "Your Friends and Neighbors."

When we first meet Andrew Cooper (Hamm), he's not exactly riding high on the wings of glory. He's recently divorced from his wife Mel (Amanda Peet), who he walked in on cheating with one of his best friends, and now he's wading back into the dating pool, drinking whiskey alone at a bar and trying to remember how all of these mating rituals work. But little does he know that things are about to get a lot worse.

After a one-night stand with a woman who happens to work at the same hedge fund as him (albeit in a different department outside of his org chart), he is fired for violating the company's non-fraternization policy, leaving him with a very expensive lifestyle to maintain without any income. While attending a party at one of his fellow rich friend's homes, he begins to notice all the careless markings of wealth strewn around the house and tucked away in drawers. "Would they even notice if this was missing?" he begins to wonder. And so his freelance career as a thief is born in earnest.

As a crime drama, "Your Friends and Neighbors" lives and dies on the back of Jon Hamm. Although, like Don Draper in "Mad Men" (who has a range of good and bad scenes), he's not always the easiest character to root for, there's something inherently compelling about this rich white guy that keeps us watching in spite of ourselves. It helps that the show peppers in moments that point to his inherent decency, like how intuitively he takes care of his sister who's struggling with mental health issues. But a lot of this appeal comes from the actor himself, who adds depth to a character we're not necessarily inclined to sympathize with.

Still, there's plenty of eye-rolling plot turns in "Your Friends and Neighbors." Cooper is a one-percenter living it up in his gated community, and it's only when he loses everything that he starts to wax poetic about the evils of materialism and how everyone else in his circle is a jerk who deserves to have their possessions stolen. It's supposed to be a commentary on the ultra-wealthy, and indeed there is a surreal quality to the neighborhood that makes it clear how much they live in a completely different world as the rest of us. But his defiant voiceover narration scolding them for their rampant consumerism doesn't play that well knowing that he lived exactly like them for most of his adult life. These issues of class and privilege are addressed with all the subtlety of a ball peen hammer. "Your Friends and Neighbors" seems to think that it's saying something profound, but the argument that rich people are bad seems a little lukewarm in the year of our lord 2025.

"Your Friends and Neighbors" also suffers from strange pacing. With seven episodes in its first season, it has the all-too-common problem of hitting its stride just in time for the finale. Cooper spends too much of the early episodes either alone or isolated, making it drag through endless monologuing. The show is at its best when he's able to connect with people — his sister, his ex-wife, his children, his partner-in-crime — but we don't get a lot of that until fairly late in the season. If it's renewed, at least there's the opportunity to pick up where we left off, but as far as this season goes, it takes a while before we actually start to care about what's going on.

Don't get us wrong, though: These are criticisms, but they don't mean that the show isn't worth watching. You get more and more invested as the season goes by, and if it starts slow, by the end it's mostly worked out its issues. Jon Hamm is at his nihilistic best, and this role fits him well — he gets to be funny, which we all know he loves to do, but in a dry, sardonic way. The first couple episodes can be tiring as the entire world is seemingly pitted against Cooper, but as time goes by, it becomes clear that this is simply his perspective, and his relationships are all more complex and nuanced than they initially appear. "Your Friends and Neighbors" isn't perfect, but Hamm alone makes it worth giving a chance.

"Your Friends and Neighbors" is now streaming on Apple TV+.