Sorry To Bother You

Sorry To Bother You is a rara avis these days: satire. In the theater world it is said that satire closes on a Saturday night, meaning it doesn't stick around long. It isn't very popular in movies, either, as frankly, a lot of people just don't get it. But Sorry To Bother You is a satire that works, mostly, and should be recognizable to most people, as it about the misery of working.

Written and directed by Boots Riley, Sorry To Bother You is a modern-day update of Modern Times, but these times are scarily modern. Lakeith Stanfield is a kind of everyman, a poor slob who lives barely above the poverty line (he does, though, in a bit of fanciful plotting, have a great and beautiful girlfriend, Tessa Thompson). Stanfield gets a job as a telemarketer, one of the world's worst jobs, selling, well it doesn't really matter what he is selling. He is just encouraged to "stick to the script," and is promised that if he does a great job, he will be promoted to "Power Caller," where the money really is. They even have their own gilded elevator.

Stanfield only starts doing a good job when he uses a "white voice," which is not just the nasal quality of the voice, but the attitude (he is taught this by Danny Glover, a welcome presence). Soon he is in that elevator, but discovers he is working for a company called WorryFree, which provides menial labor to companies, and has been accused of simply being a different form of slavery. Stanfield, enticed by the money and perks, goes along, losing the respect of Thompson and his friends, notably Steven Yeun as a labor organizer.

Sorry To Bother You, like many satires, starts in the real world and then pushes the envelope. When Armie Hammer as WorryFree's CEO arrives, the film jumps the rails, but keeps the spirit of the working man's plight alive. What the film recognizes is that the bosses will always exploit the workers every chance they get, and no company really cares about them, especially in a job like telemarketing, where personnel are so easily replaced (Stanfield, despite lying on his resume, gets the job because he has "initiative and can read."

Riley adds some more commentary on our society, such as a popular TV show called "I Got The Shit Beat Out Of Me." Also, Stanfield becomes a YouTube sensation, accidentally, after he is beaned in the head with a can of Coke while crossing a picket line. Riley is less successful with keeping the movie flowing, as it is a bit slipshod in presentation. The third act reveal is both completely unbelievable and audacious, but it's too bad the special effects aren't up to it.

Sorry To Bother You seems like a movie that could end up a cult sensation. It is unlikely that it will ever not be relevant, as workers will always be treated like crap.