Sorry to Bother You, written and directed by Boots Riley - Seven out of 10

Sorry to Bother You, written and directed by Boots Riley

Seven out of 10

Sorry to Bother You has been very well received – it has an average rating from the critics of 81 out of 100 and it has been nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

The undersigned has been unable though to see where the outstanding merits of this comedy, fantasy, science fiction and drama lie.

Evidently, there are quite a few aspects that are worthwhile and the motion picture is thought provoking.

It can be seen as virulent, pertinent attack on some flaws of modern American – and perhaps other as well – society like racist stereotypes, telemarketing and the obsession with material wealth, money in particular.

Cassius Green is the hero, to begin with a poor African American living in lodgings offered by his uncle – who would face the prospect of losing his house and everything else besides – whose car – a jalopy wreck actually – he is also driving around.

The protagonist walks into an interview where the prospective superior is asking about his previous job as a teller at a branch of a bank and then he starts pointing out outrageous lies about his previous experience:

“That local branch you mention in your CV…I have been the manager and you never worked there

As for the number you provided…that belongs to this other man that is also looking for a job here…you should have changed the voice mail message at the very least when you gave it…

What is that award you pretend you won? You stole it or you made it yourself?”

After all this, we expect, like the interviewee that he has no chance to get the position and he would be shown the door.

Amusingly and unexpectedly, the interviewer goes on to say that this is exactly what he wants, for the young man has shown initiative, drive, determination and imagination…

He then shows the sign on the wall – STTS – emphasizing it – Stick To The Script and he informs the hero that he has a job as a telemarketer.

When he is about to start, an older colleague, Langston aka Danny Glover, advices him to use a white voice when trying to make a sale and this is part of the satire, the merit worthy side of the script that addresses a real problem in America and elsewhere.

Recent studies have shown that in spite of a decrease of overt racism and efforts to make the laws impartial, there is still a bias: when researchers have sent CVs to potential employers, white names were much more likely to get the positions than “African American „sounding names.

Glengarry Glen Ross, the classic masterpiece, a fundamental, historical work comes to mind, only for yours truly, Sorry to Bother You is light years away from the film with Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, Al Pacino and a formidable Alec Baldwin.

The staff at the telemarketing firm is paid so low as to be unable to make ends meet – which is still happening in places…Wal-Mart, was known as place where employees needed social benefits to compensate for the low wages.

They rebel and organize a strike, while Cassius Green is promoted upstairs to become a [power caller, a man able to negotiate deals with Asian high rollers, offering them a chance to increase their remarkable profits, on the back of workers who can hardly live from the miserable wages they are paid.

In some ways, the under signed was turned off by this and other seemingly socialist messages, for although there is injustice in the world, we have lived here in the “paradise” of a Communist Animal Farm and we know very well what socialist, extreme leftist ideas can bring about…

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”

In addition, the comedy –drama becomes outré, bizarre, for some tastes, outright absurd, when an art show is put on and the artistic, creative, imaginative but rather unpleasant girlfriend is on stage and people throw things at her, including some balls with liquid – was it blood?

When Cassius Green meets Steve Lift aka the actor who has reached a performance zenith with Call Me By Your Name, Armie Hammer, the intention of stigmatizing rich, ruthless, thuggish, criminal wealthy fat cats is obvious.

What is less palatable is the manner- proposing a scenario where people are turned into another form of workforce, taking the shape of half humans half horses.

In spite of some of its achievements and the generous acclaim from the better critics, this viewer was not elated by Sorry to Bother You.