A call center employee is promoted to be a Power Caller, where he
becomes the company's golden boy and learns a few corporate secrets. COMEDY/SCI-FI
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Sorry to Bother You (2018)Written and Directed by Boots Riley
Starring Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Steven Yeun, Omari Hardwick, Armie Hammer, Danny Glover, Terry Crews, David Cross, Patton Oswalt |
Sorry to Bother You is a truly bizarre film that should be an absolute disaster, but somehow works as a coherent, entertaining, and funny satire of modern society. The film I can best compare it to is Brazil, in its restructuring of the modern world in favor of an alternate reality where Americans are way more desensitized to violence and scandal than we already are. Boots Riley managed to make a fluid comedy with the mentality and tone of an art film, which I never thought possible.
Lakeith Stanfield plays Cassius Green, a new hire at a call center where he proves to be exceedingly good at his job, but only after putting on a "white voice" (David Cross in a case of brilliant casting) for his would-be customers. After proving himself, he gets promoted to the big leagues and becomes a Power Caller, where he is now selling arms and corporate assets to the highest bidder. He proves to be great at that too, and he attracts the interest of billionaire CEO Steve Lift (Armie Hammer), who shows him what his company Worryfree has been preparing for. I won't spoil the surprise, but it's weird and completely out of left field, yet it somehow works with the film. It's like the film has already proven its satirical genius by that point that introducing something so outlandish just adds to that genius. Sorry to Bother You came and went awfully quick last year, but it deserves another look because it's secretly one of the smartest films of 2018. It's unique, scathing, and goes the extra mile to point out the frustration inherent in modern society when it comes to what people are willing to do for money. I liked it way more than I thought I would. |