Most of the time throughout the year you see movies that are either good, bad, or in the middle. Then there are films like the one I saw last night with the feature debut from filmmaker Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You. The film takes place in an alternate present-day Oakland, CA where a young man named Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) gets a job as a telemarketer. There, he discovers a unique way to succeed in his field which leads him to a more significant and exciting universe but let me tell you there is way more to this story than just learning to be a great telemarketer. Here is my full review of Sorry to Bother You.
Let start off with the filmmaker Boots Riley. To begin, this filmmaker has a creative and visionary mind because he comes out the gate with his first feature film swinging. If I could describe this movie in one word, it would be ambitious. This movie is probably one of the most uniquely ambitious films that I have seen in recent years. He does such an incredible job of creating this smart but weird Oakland world that has so many hidden social commentaries within it that you need to see this film multiple times to entirely consume to what you’re experiencing.
Our main characters like Cassius or his girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson) come off being so compelling to watch that you can’t help but become invested in what they’re doing in their everyday activities. That’s because of the brilliant performances from both Stanfield and Thompson, but also because of the particular writing from Boots Riley himself. The way he breaks all of the characters down is so uncommon and different that you can’t help but go along with it that about halfway through the film you come out enjoying how you’re seeing these different people interact with one another in this alternate world that’s not too different from ours.
What also makes the writing bold is what I mention earlier, and that was all the social commentaries that the filmmaker was implementing in this film. This movie tackles almost everything from racism, capitalism, socialism, self-identity, greed, and so much more. I was all aboard for it until about halfway through the film which I will go into more detail later in the review. The performances were all excellent across the board. I mean this movie had the incredible talents such as Danny Glover, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, and Steven Yuen. As high as they all were in their respective roles the performances that stood out to me came from Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, and Armie Hammer.
First, can we all admit that Lakeith Stanfield is an outstanding actor? I love his performance as Darius in the hit TV show Atlanta, but he probably outdoes himself in this movie as our main protagonist. Cassius is a guy who wants to succeed and will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, and Stanfield does an incredible job of bringing out that hunger this young man has onto the screen. Thompson was equally as great at playing this free-spirited artist, and the on-screen chemistry between her and Stanfield was superb that I would love to see these two work together again. Armie Hammer, he plays this billionaire business tycoon who has created this business that people in the movie believe to be modern-day slavery. Let me say Hammer was intense in this film and brought his A game with him. If you were someone who was on the fence with him as an actor all I can with his performances in Call Me by Your Name and now this, if you’re not at least considering him as a talented actor then I don’t know what is wrong with you because he was freakishly great in this film.
Now, let’s get to where I believe this movie will either make people love this movie entirely or make them come away hating everything about the film. The first hour into the story I was fully aboard with what I was watching because I was watching a movie from a visionary filmmaker that wanted to immerse its audience in this world while also throwing so many thematic elements at you. As I mentioned, this film tackles many social commentaries, but if I had to choose especially towards the end, I believe the filmmaker wanted the story to focus more on socialism, capitalism, and how they affect today’s workforce amongst people.
On paper that sounds very intriguing, but without spoiling it for you all about the last 30minutes into the movie something happens that turns this movie upside down, and you either going to go with it or not. If you do, then I can see where you’re coming from, and if you don’t then I will also understand where you’re coming from because when this shift happens people were walking out of my screening, and I could understand why. The creative decision that Riley decides to take is bold, innovative, but weird as hell, so odd that I walked out of my screening not knowing how I felt. As I write this review days after seeing the movie I still can’t describe how I feel about this film. There were parts that I loved, and I can see what Riley was going for when this shift happens and some parts I enjoy, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit that there were some parts that left me feeling disturbed and uncomfortable. If that was what Riley was going for, then he most definitely achieved his goal.
So in conclusion, I don’t know what more I can say about this movie besides that I can see it becoming one of the most talked about films of the year. Boots Riley does a great job of coming right of that gate of making an ambitious movie that will more than likely stay with you for quite a while. The writing and the many social commentaries that he incorporated were handled well, and the performances from everyone were outstanding. The first hour into the movie I believe you’re going to enjoy, but the last 30minutes you either going to continue enjoying it, leave out disturb, or be like and land somewhere in the middle where parts of it worked, and other parts were bothersome.
In a way, this movie was just weird as hell, and the more I think about the title Sorry to Bother You I’m starting to believe that it wasn’t just meant for a character working in telemarketing. That is the filmmaker talking to us the audience especially the audience who come away on the negative end. I must admit though this movie deserves repeat viewing with all that it’s throwing at you, and more than likely I will most definitely be seeing it again. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised either this film becomes a cult classic later on or being a film that everyone hates. Overall, I’m going to Sorry to Bother You a TBA on the count this movie was so peculiar that I don’t know where it lands with me. I know I didn’t hate the film, but I also know that I didn’t come away wholly loving it either.
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