SORRY TO BOTHER YOU review
(Review by Melody Werner)
Sorry to Bother You is a 2018 absurdist comedy directed and written by Boots Riley, released by Annapurna Pictures. Starring Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson, it follows Cassius Green (subtle), a telemarketer trying to climb the social ladder, coming into conflict with his coworkers' attempts to unionize. It was met with a mostly positive reception and did well commercially. A few weeks ago, I watched it on Hulu after the YouTube channel Just Write pointed me towards it. STBY is a crazy ass flick, and it's fucking incredible.
Sorry to Bother You is such an aesthetically pleasing film. It was made on a relatively small budget of $3.2 million, yet it looks as good as and better than ones which multiply that number twentyfold. It's not how much you have, it's how you use it. Superlative visuals aside, the film also boasts some exceptional tunes which are to be expected of Riley, who has never made a film before (he has always been a musician).
As a comedy that reads as a working class manifesto, there are two things that had to be nailed for the film to come out well: humor and interesting themes. Sorry to Bother You is right on the money with both. Comedy is a tricky, subjective thing, but I found it to be a damn funny film that was absurd enough to elicit laughs regularly but not so much that the more thematic elements came out worse off through tonal whiplash. The performances and dialogue accentuate the humor, with some great delivery from all of the cast, including Stanfield, Thompson, David Cross, Patton Oswalt, and Terry Crews.
Sorry to Bother You is the type of film that will find itself in the sights of both the "everyone on the left is a socialist" far right and pseudo-woke pseudo-centrists with thorns up their asses from fence-sitting their whole lives. But it's also the kind of film that someone truly progressive would adore, as it presents such a complex web of how our corrupt system corrodes society in such an easy to understand fashion. While some may critique the film for a "lack of subtlety", you cannot have subtlety when depicting such a total portrayal of our country. And it's not as though subtlety is some innately positive quality in art. Sorry to Bother You is such an intelligent film, I can't help but love it for that alone.
Narratively, I've seen some people taking umbrage with a turning point towards the end of the story. Now, I came in knowing what happens thanks to the Just Write video, but I implore anyone who has not seen the film yet but is interested to go in without knowing if you want a surprise. Personally, I don't think I would've been turned off by that revelation had I come in unawares, because the rest of the film before it is already so gonzo that it's not really jumping the shark in my opinion. Where other films are politically "woke" and also happen to be funny, the beauty of Sorry to Bother You is in how it perfectly melds both social commentary and humor in a way that the two cannot be separated.
Sorry to Bother You is a bona fide classic waiting to happen; a perfect counterweight and antidote to the overexposure of Ayn Rand's nauseating Atlas Shrugged. I hope to be there as it grows in popularity with time. My only problems with it, which are only really marginal issues, are that some of the jokes don't land with me (your mileage may vary). Other than that, this is a flick that's firing on all cylinders and provides progressives with something bafflingly fun to chew on. Sorry to Bother You gets a 9.5/10 from me.
Must-see
Summary:
An intelligent, bonkers, and amusing piece of social commentary, it's hard not to love STBY.
Sorry to Bother You is a 2018 absurdist comedy directed and written by Boots Riley, released by Annapurna Pictures. Starring Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson, it follows Cassius Green (subtle), a telemarketer trying to climb the social ladder, coming into conflict with his coworkers' attempts to unionize. It was met with a mostly positive reception and did well commercially. A few weeks ago, I watched it on Hulu after the YouTube channel Just Write pointed me towards it. STBY is a crazy ass flick, and it's fucking incredible.
Sorry to Bother You is such an aesthetically pleasing film. It was made on a relatively small budget of $3.2 million, yet it looks as good as and better than ones which multiply that number twentyfold. It's not how much you have, it's how you use it. Superlative visuals aside, the film also boasts some exceptional tunes which are to be expected of Riley, who has never made a film before (he has always been a musician).
As a comedy that reads as a working class manifesto, there are two things that had to be nailed for the film to come out well: humor and interesting themes. Sorry to Bother You is right on the money with both. Comedy is a tricky, subjective thing, but I found it to be a damn funny film that was absurd enough to elicit laughs regularly but not so much that the more thematic elements came out worse off through tonal whiplash. The performances and dialogue accentuate the humor, with some great delivery from all of the cast, including Stanfield, Thompson, David Cross, Patton Oswalt, and Terry Crews.
Sorry to Bother You is the type of film that will find itself in the sights of both the "everyone on the left is a socialist" far right and pseudo-woke pseudo-centrists with thorns up their asses from fence-sitting their whole lives. But it's also the kind of film that someone truly progressive would adore, as it presents such a complex web of how our corrupt system corrodes society in such an easy to understand fashion. While some may critique the film for a "lack of subtlety", you cannot have subtlety when depicting such a total portrayal of our country. And it's not as though subtlety is some innately positive quality in art. Sorry to Bother You is such an intelligent film, I can't help but love it for that alone.
Narratively, I've seen some people taking umbrage with a turning point towards the end of the story. Now, I came in knowing what happens thanks to the Just Write video, but I implore anyone who has not seen the film yet but is interested to go in without knowing if you want a surprise. Personally, I don't think I would've been turned off by that revelation had I come in unawares, because the rest of the film before it is already so gonzo that it's not really jumping the shark in my opinion. Where other films are politically "woke" and also happen to be funny, the beauty of Sorry to Bother You is in how it perfectly melds both social commentary and humor in a way that the two cannot be separated.
Sorry to Bother You is a bona fide classic waiting to happen; a perfect counterweight and antidote to the overexposure of Ayn Rand's nauseating Atlas Shrugged. I hope to be there as it grows in popularity with time. My only problems with it, which are only really marginal issues, are that some of the jokes don't land with me (your mileage may vary). Other than that, this is a flick that's firing on all cylinders and provides progressives with something bafflingly fun to chew on. Sorry to Bother You gets a 9.5/10 from me.
Must-see
Summary:
An intelligent, bonkers, and amusing piece of social commentary, it's hard not to love STBY.
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