Jonathan Tropper makes unhappy people entertaining, especially when comedy keeps their self-pity in check. We rate him for the humour, but his commentary on wealth is familiar and his crime plotting can become repetitive.
Fi1m perspective
Jon Hamm makes Coop's unhappiness funny in Your Friends & Neighbors (2025), without demanding that we consider it more important than anyone else's. As creator and writer, Jonathan Tropper is less disciplined about that distinction, giving his affluent antihero more attention than his observations about wealth can justify. Still, the comedy and ensemble make the programme worth following, rather than merely an invitation to worry about a rich man's feelings. Tropper keeps the relationship drama lively, even when the observations about privilege offer little we have not heard before.
His route to television went through novels, with family dysfunction and midlife dissatisfaction among his recurring subjects. Co-creating Banshee (2013) and creating Warrior (2019) brought character stories into action and crime. Between them came This Is Where I Leave You (2014), which he adapted from his own novel for director Shawn Levy. That combination of domestic troubles and crime remains useful in Your Friends & Neighbors: burglary gives dissatisfied people something to do, though it does not automatically make their complaints more interesting.
Lucky (2026) shows how quickly that approach can run out of useful complications. Tropper created and wrote the seven-part con-artist chase, and Anya Taylor-Joy gives it a lead worth following. The first episode moves briskly; after that, the series repeats itself and never develops much beyond the running. We grew impatient with Lucky because its repeated explanations made following the chase feel like work after an opening that had made it seem promising.
Tropper has described Your Friends & Neighbors plainly: “We are skewering a value system. But at the same time, we’re making the show aspirational.” That helps explain why its criticism of privilege feels so gentle: the wealth must remain attractive enough to enjoy. There is no need for the comedy to apologise for being pleasurable, but we need sharper observations before treating it as much of a satire. Start there for Hamm and the ensemble, with expectations of social insight kept modest.
Biography
Jonathan Tropper (born 19 February 1970) is an American writer, director and producer. He co-created the Cinemax series Banshee (2013–2016) with David Schickler and created the Cinemax series Warrior (2019–2023). He wrote the screenplay for the 2014 film This Is Where I Leave You, adapted from his own novel, and has written episodes of Vinyl (2016) and See (2019).
Tropper created, wrote and executive produced the Apple TV+ series Your Friends & Neighbors (2025–present), directing one episode, and created the 2026 Apple TV+ series Lucky. His other screenwriting credits include the films Kodachrome (2017) and The Adam Project (2022).
