Cassius Green wants his life to mean something; he simply doesn't know how. In an alternate universe that looks like modern day Oakland with a sci-fi tint, Green takes a job at a telemarketing company that has a fair amount of crooked mixed into its mission statement, but he doesn't mind, because it will soon change his life and make it better. He has no idea what he is getting into.
Neither does the audience, because Boots Riley's directorial debut, Sorry to Bother You, is not what you think it is. It's not a laugh-out-loud comedy or a stone cold drama. It isn't a standard science fiction riff on the rigors of modern day society. It's actually a little bit of all of those things rolled into an unconventional satire about how bad society can get or is quickly heading towards.
If you thought 2017 Best Picture Nominee Get Out found a way to speak uncomfortably numb about race and class, just wait for this organic, yet off-putting, movie.
When Green gets advice from an older employee who has been around the ropes (Danny Glover, who does utter the famous Lethal Weapon line once!), he becomes a company sensation overnight. Using a "white guy voice" that puts customers at ease, Cassius becomes the top seller. This rise in his stock puts him at odds with his artistically devoted girlfriend (Tessa Thompson) and close friends (Jermaine Fowler and Steven Yeun), who would like nothing more than to boycott and rebel against their workplace. Is Cassius bettering himself or crossing over into the dark side of evil corporation's devious ways?
Riley wisely treats his universe canvas with a slow-burning societal decay, showing us the division in class and wage as well as the still vibrant racial undertones that the world hasn't been able to banish just yet. Instead of composing long-winded monologues and halting the progress of his film to preach about his themes, Riley just lets the characters and vivid set design inform you over the course of the movie.
This isn't a simple stick to the man, be your own person, and wise above the hierarchy of our times narrative. Riley is digging at something more sinister and cold, but doing it with a heavy dose of comedy and original storytelling. Everything you see in this film was probably exploited or told in other films, but not as cool or stylishly inventive as Riley serves it up here. When you think about the organic idea of a film and its transformation into something and unique, Riley's film is what filmmakers want to get out of that process. He made his film.
If I can tell you one thing that is great about Sorry to Bother You, it's that Riley conjured up a premise that executed the follow-through, all the way to the highly uncomfortable yet necessary ending that will leave your jaw on the floor. 98% of other filmmakers would have dropped this material and ran; Riley seems to have made it his lot in life to make sure it got made right. Riley leaned into it instead of going halfway, and having a distributor like Annapurna Pictures helps.
Founded in 2011, they released unique yet divisive films such as The Master and Her, films that handled religion or human interaction in a completely different way than previous films. They take chances. Sorry to Bother You falls under that category of artistic freedom, delivering a hypnotic blend of originality.
When Green gets invited to the party of company CEO, Steve Lift (an outrageous and over the top Armie Hammer) and gets an offer that would change Cassius' entire life, the film flips script and becomes something entirely different while retaining the themes and goals it set out to make.
Trust me when I say that the third act is something you aren't prepared for or will adore immediately, but a plot device that I eventually understood and appreciated Riley for making. It's wild and will cause you to do one of those look around the theater in amazement gestures afterwards. I won't give you any more details, because some things inside a movie theater shouldn't be spoiled.
The cast is first rate. Stanfield works wonders with minimal dialogue, but knows how to turn it up a notch. Thompson is showing up in everything, and that's because she cuts a truly vibrant soul in every project she touches, from Creed to Thor: Ragnarok to Westworld to this. She's becoming a not-so-secret weapon for Hollywood and I like it.
I'm not a fan of Hammer's work, but Lift fits him to a tee. You want to be Steve Lift and call the cops on him all at once. Terry Crews, Omar Hardwick, and Fowler are all solid in supporting roles. It's nice to see Glover get some juice in a role again.
Does the film have its faults? Sure. The pacing is off at times and the way some scenes mesh together doesn't sync with the rest of the film, creating a sense of uneven construction. The scenes don't all stick together just right. All of the jokes don't register, and a few visuals are a bit too much on the money to mix with the rest of the movie. Being Riley's first film, I think his future projects will have better flow.
I went into Sorry to Bother You with zero expectations. I didn't watch the trailer, nor read any reviews. A clean entry for such a subversive film was the right play, because as much as this movie puts you against the wall and challenges your sensibilities, it's required viewing. If you are tired of superhero films and tireless action films, go watch this flick.
I left with a smile on my face.
