| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
B+ |
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Management delivers both comedy and drama
by dwchien (movies profile)
Sep 26, 2009
Once a while an indie passes by quietly, without any fanfare or advertising, but turns out to be something worthy of your time. I love discovering those types of films. “Management” is just that.
Romantic comedies are all about chemistry. If the leading couple doesn’t have it, it doesn’t matter who wrote it, who directed it; it failed before it even began. Fortunately, there was chemistry for Steve Zahn and Jennifer Aniston from the get go.
Zahn stars as a lonely hotel night manager, at a property owned by his parents. His robotic lifestyle involves the same daily routine as stocking the continental breakfast trays, cleaning the room, and from time to time, cleaning the pool.
Aniston is a salesman in town for a presentation, just happens to check into this hotel of a desolate highway in Kingman, AZ.
Zahn is immediately smitten by Aniston. He dug up an old bottle of wine and pretended that the management for the hotel always welcomes new guests this way. Aniston is appalled at first, but found his candid goofiness refreshing. When Zahn returns for the second night with a bottle of champagne, she lets him do it – touch her butt.
Unbeknownst to us, Aniston is also trapped in a world she’s frightened to get out of. Just as Zahn bravely step forward to a place he’s never been, Aniston turns her car around after checking out the hotel, and finds Zahn in the laundry room saddened by her departure. They went for it.
What Aniston thought to be a one-night-stand, turns out to be something more. Zahn decides to travel cross country to Maryland and surprise Aniston. At first she’s angry. But her loneliness allowed her to explore what comes may. The two went to play soccer, then passed out Burger King coupons and PowerAid to homeless people.
Aniston, still uncertain about her plans with Zahn, sents him home on a bus. But another chance meeting brings Aniston back to the familiar hotel on another business trip. She gives him another go, but makes up her mind that this cannot be the life for her.
Again Aniston leaves, but this time Zahn realizes his life now has a direction – her. So he books cross country to find her again, only to discover she’s gotten back with her ex-boyfriend Jango; played by Woody Harrelson.
For a moment the film could have taken off on a wrong detour, which was to play on the love triangle. But it didn’t. The two actually got closer while Aniston was with Harrelson. But still afraid to commit to someone who’s not as successful as Harrelson, Aniston decides that she would marry Harrelson.
I won’t give away the ending, because what I saw were two people really finding themselves in each other. I loved how unassumingly; both characters decide to take the plunge. For Zahn, it was all the way as soon as he saw her. You can tell Aniston tried her best to fight it, but in her baby steps, she was able to find love, and everything she’s been looking for, in this simple, sweet, uncomplicated man.
Fred Ward has a supporting role as Zahn’s father. There are heart-breaking moments in this film about family, and the difficulties of communications between a father and a son. There are also side-splitting moment which Zahn is best known for. But I gotta tell you, Zahn and Aniston were one-hundred-percent there at every moment. You feel how much they needed each other. But you also don’t know how successful this relationship will be, until that last moment. And every moment of the journey was relevant in reaching that last moment. Things all fell into place, where they should be, from the moment they first met.
Harrelson also has a small but effective supporting role. He’s great at creating comic relief just by his mere presence. And the scene by the pool; one of the funniest in the entire film.
I didn’t see “Tape”, which was writer / director Stephen Belber’s first film, ironically enough, also took place at a hotel. There is a certain indescribable feeling about a motor lodge just off a stop on a desolate freeway that makes you feel as small and lonely as can be. It perfectly describes how empty the two worlds are. I enjoy how Belber slowly put two very different worlds together, and made them work. I also appreciated how well he framed his shots. There are beautiful landscapes throughout this film. But most admirably, Belber was able to capture the close-ups at the right moments. I can’t stress enough about this aspect in films today. Too many hand-held, corner-cutting, full scene takes just to appear more “real”. Even for an indie, this brought on such heart-felt moments that otherwise wouldn’t have been as effective.
I don’t know whether “Management” would be more accurately described as a comedy, or a drama. I simply know this is a real gem, worthy of your rental or purchase at your favorite local store. I even bought the poster. |
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