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Aniston Has Management Skills
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You might ask that with all the new big budget blockbusters infiltrating the theaters this week, why would I choose little known independent film, Management, as a topic of review.
Well, quite frankly, I hate Star Trek, so whether it is good or not, my opinion would be fueled by memories of being dragged to some Star Trek flicks by some friends and I wouldn’t be objective. As far as Terminator goes, I am always appalled at sequels made to clean up after previous crappy sequels. The first two Terminators were fine, didn’t need to go beyond those. Nights at the Museum? You’re kidding me right?
X-Men? Not a comics guy, so I don’t care. Angels and Demons or State of Play? Not entertained by sensationalized or cookie cutter conspiracy flicks.
So now back to the movie I actually did want to see, Management, starring Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn. I think Aniston gets a bad rap sometimes as far as her acting and film choice goes. All big stars do really crappy “high concept” slop to get the big money. There isn’t one star that has clean hands when it comes to that issue.
However when she gets into a film that has some heart or originality, her ability comes through. Check out Office Space and The Good Girl to see what I mean. Also, I really like when Steve Zahn does a role with some depth to it or at least takes part in a film that isn’t a screwball comedy. He was in Sunshine Cleaning recently, as well, which you can see that I liked a lot.
The story goes like this, Aniston plays corporate art salesperson and Maryland native, Sue Claussen, who is on a business trip in Arizona. She stays in a small town outside of Phoenix at a modest hotel that is run by Mike, played by Zahn, and his parents. Mike is utterly lost and completely bored with his existence and perks up when he notices the attractive businesswoman checking in for a couple nights.
Smooth is not Mike’s middle name as he makes a few bizarre and lame attempts to woo Sue into taking an interest in him. Sue is obviously annoyed and creeped out, but still somewhat amused at Mike’s attempts. On the final night of her stay, Mike makes a last ditch effort and it leads to a great exchange between he and Sue about what he is trying to accomplish by his advances. To appease him and get him to leave, Sue allows him to “touch her butt” so he can feel like he achieved some success.
Upon check out Sue and Mike have an awkward encounter and Sue heads off for the airport. She obviously has her own issues of being bored with her life and needing more. Whether she feels sympathy for Mike or some form of bizarre bond between lonely people, she returns to the hotel for a quickie in the laundry room.
Mike falls head over heals and embarks on a quest to convince Sue to give him a real chance at love. Three cross country trips to a couple different cities, his mom’s death, and Sue’s ex-boyfriend, Jango, played by Woody Harrelson all become obstacles in Mike’s journey.
He doesn’t waver and continues on his child like pursuance of Sue until his realization that he needs to figure out his own life before he can be worthy of sharing someone else’s.
The movie has a great off beat tone and that makes you a bit unsure throughout whether anything will actually work out for Mike and Sue. If it does or it doesn’t you can see it going either way.
It’s a shame that a lot of people will overlook this movie because it won’t have box office success. I’ll still never understand why anyone with a brain thinks the amount of money a movie makes should determine if it’s good or not. All that money determines is that the producers did a good enough job of convincing the masses to go see it.
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