![]() But Kurt Vonnegut or Douglas Adams, Boots Riley is not. The exception is when absurdists have a very distinct, original, satirical sensibility. When there’s more style than story, I tend not to fully engage with - or, frankly, care about - the world or its characters. It’s a problem I often find with absurdism. But for me, Riley didn’t manage to capture the dark humor, sharp commentary and emotional highs and lows of those three. ![]() Sorry to Bother You invites comparisons to Atlanta, Get Out and Black Mirror’s “Fifteen Million Merits” episode, and not just because two of the three also star Lakeith Stanfield. Despite facing a wave of controversy and protests, WorryFree’s CEO (Armie Hammer), an extreme Elon Musk-type, is planning to expand the business model to uncharted territory. A company called WorryFree offers Americans a different lifestyle: work in their factories, move your family into a prison-like cell with prison-like food, and never worry about the stress of existing independently again. A reality show called I Got the Shit Kicked Out of Me has the highest ratings on television. The backdrop to this story is an alternate present where unemployment, social stratification and general dissatisfaction are high. He starts making sales when he, a black man, utilizes his “white voice” - not just the kind of Caucasian dialect Ron Stallworth affects to woo the Ku Klux Klan over the phone in Spike Lee’s recent BlacKkKlansman, but literally the dorky, confident voice of David Cross. This is demonstrated in the film’s basic premise: Sorry to Bother You follows an unemployed, largely unremarkable guy named Cassius Green (Stanfield), known as Cash, who manages to secure a job at a telemarketing company selling encyclopedia sets. The story juggles absurdity and utter normalcy throughout. But Sorry to Bother You‘s particular brand of weirdness managed to be both fun and a little disappointing. I love weird: give me messy, campy, off-color stories any day. Walking out of a screening, I could think only one thing of the film: it’s extraordinarily weird. Maybe it’s Lakeith Stanfield’s stellar performance, or Tessa Thompson’s badass hair, make-up and wardrobe. ![]() Maybe it’s the practical special effects, hearkening back to early sci-fi with a contemporary, satirical sheen. Maybe it’s the timely discussion of the evils of capitalism and importance of labor unions. Maybe it’s rookie writer-director Boots Riley’s unique take on science fiction. There’s something extraordinary about Sorry to Bother You, now showing at FilmScene. Tessa Thompson and Lakeith Stanfield in ‘Sorry to Bother You.’ - film still
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