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drwexAlthough not marketed as a science fiction film, Sorry to Bother You is set in an "alternate present-day version of Oakland". It is full-on magic realism, with people and things that are off-kilter to (our) normal but that are accepted as normal by everyone in the story. 4/5 stars for funny, relevant weirdness and good performances.
The film shows the sharp focus that a single writer-director - in this case, first-timer Boots Riley - can bring. The script is good, fast-paced, and everyone hits their beats well. Tessa Thompson is tight, very on-point, and striking as performance artist girlfriend Detroit. I can't wait for her to get her first top-billed role.
Lakeith Stanfield absolutely carries the film in what is effectively a one-man-centric show. Stanfield has had a variety of minor parts before, but nothing this big. In StBY, there are effectively no scenes in which Cassius Green does not appear, absent a small side-story that brings some more depth to the Green-Detroit relationship.
StBY is notable for being a film that turns in large part on "code switching". Early on Danny Glover's Langston advises Green to "use his white voice." When he first tries, Langston insists that he use a much more white voice, pointing out things such as speaking like you've never been fired, only laid off. The script actively connects a particular manner of speech with the social structures that privileged people enjoy. The voice Green switches to is actually supplied by Lilly James, giving it a British tinge that many people associate not only with whiteness, but with upper-class refinement. The film also directly goes for notions of social consciousness, starting with the question of what Green and his fellow telemarketers are selling and rapidly adding in class and labor struggles. Steve Yeun's character Squeeze brings Green into the struggle, despite Green's reluctance.
The entire movie has a tinge of weirdness about it - as I mentioned, magical realism - and at the end it takes a sharp left turn into high weirdness. I was surprised by it, and I felt like the film handled it well. But be prepared.
The film shows the sharp focus that a single writer-director - in this case, first-timer Boots Riley - can bring. The script is good, fast-paced, and everyone hits their beats well. Tessa Thompson is tight, very on-point, and striking as performance artist girlfriend Detroit. I can't wait for her to get her first top-billed role.
Lakeith Stanfield absolutely carries the film in what is effectively a one-man-centric show. Stanfield has had a variety of minor parts before, but nothing this big. In StBY, there are effectively no scenes in which Cassius Green does not appear, absent a small side-story that brings some more depth to the Green-Detroit relationship.
StBY is notable for being a film that turns in large part on "code switching". Early on Danny Glover's Langston advises Green to "use his white voice." When he first tries, Langston insists that he use a much more white voice, pointing out things such as speaking like you've never been fired, only laid off. The script actively connects a particular manner of speech with the social structures that privileged people enjoy. The voice Green switches to is actually supplied by Lilly James, giving it a British tinge that many people associate not only with whiteness, but with upper-class refinement. The film also directly goes for notions of social consciousness, starting with the question of what Green and his fellow telemarketers are selling and rapidly adding in class and labor struggles. Steve Yeun's character Squeeze brings Green into the struggle, despite Green's reluctance.
The entire movie has a tinge of weirdness about it - as I mentioned, magical realism - and at the end it takes a sharp left turn into high weirdness. I was surprised by it, and I felt like the film handled it well. But be prepared.
no subject
Date: 2018-11-07 02:56 am (UTC)Also, the fact that the techno-douche is played by Armand Hammer's grat grandson cracks me up, given the potential comparisons
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Date: 2018-11-07 04:18 am (UTC)Did you guys end up liking it?
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Date: 2018-11-07 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-11-08 08:47 pm (UTC)