Managed to entertain me (Management (DVD))

Member Name: mummy2harry

Product:	Management (DVD)
Date:	10/11/09 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some good acting,

Disadvantages: Felt cheap, some silly bits

Sue Claussen works selling art, and everything is normal in her life when she checks into a motel one night. Unluckily for her, the night manager Mike spots Sue and decides to woo her with a bottle of champagne. Sue tries to spurn his advances, but ends up letting him get closer to her than she expected. When she obviously has to return home, Mike decides to follow Sue even though she makes it clear she's isn't interested and has a boyfriend of her own. Mike won't give up though, and despite some of his own personal troubles, goes about trying to win Sue over and make her love him back. Will the bumbling hotel manager win the rich art dealer's heart, or can't she look past appearances and job titles?

This was another of my library spots and one I watched simply because it's got Jennifer Aniston in it as I think she's a pretty good actress. It's billed as a comedy/drama and I just thought the plot sounded quite funny and I was curious to see how it was going to be done in this movie. The movie premiered at the Toronto Film Festival but doesn't seem to have had much publicity over here as I've never heard of it before which is surprising considering its main stars are big names in Hollywood.

As it began, the movie immediately had a low budget feel to it and it actually had a pretty slow start. I found it quite hard to get into and was tempted a few times just to hit the stop button and bother, but I was convinced it was going to get better so I carried on. The action (so to speak) begins relatively quickly with Sue's character on-screen in a matter of minutes, and therefore the scenes between her and Mike can start quickly. Aniston and Zahn aren't actors I would particularly expect to see together but for this film, it works and portrays exactly what is required of the movie.

Where I think they have both excelled is the initial few scenes between Mike and Sue at the hotel room where he is trying to get to know her. Both portray the awkwardness of Mike and Sue perfectly, and Aniston hits the nail on the head with her treatment of Zahn - suspicious of him yet curious to know more. It was great to watch because the acting was so good, but also made me cringe a bit because of the horrible situation! The way things move between the characters is unlikely but quite funny, and I was quite impressed with that. Both Aniston and Zahn were really good and definitely gave their all to the roles. An actor I didn't recognise for a while was Woody Harrelson as Sue's boyfriend Jango... talk about a change of appearance! He was hilarious and he was my favourite character of the film.

The idea behind this film is good, and takes a slightly different look on the usual "rich guy falls for poor girl" routine as we've seen many times before. I actually wasn't convinced everything was going to turn out okay for these people so in that respect I felt they did a good job in keeping the story fresh and "unguessable". However, I felt some of the scenes did feel a bit drab and uninspiring, and some of them felt like they were just going on forever and could have been cut. The film definitely picked up halfway in, but the beginning wasn't so good and I felt this let it down for me. It almost tries to do too much with its dramatic parts mixed in with silly comedy with Mike and his new friend Al which I felt all a bit unnecessary and detracted from the main plot.

There is a good message in this film, and the last few minutes was very touching and is certainly thought-provoking. The journey it took to get to the end wasn't all that predictable and so I was able to enjoy that aspect of it. The cast do a good job but I really have to say I hated Jennifer Aniston's hair, it made her look so plain and boring! As I say, there are some good lessons to be learnt from the film, and while it was a good enough watch, it wasn't anything overly new or special, and definitely had a cheaply made movie feel to it. It's an okay watch when you have the time, but don't go out of your way to especially watch it. Quite average I'm afraid.

Written and directed by Stephen Belber.
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 94 minutes

Main Cast:
Jennifer Aniston ... Sue Claussen
Steve Zahn ... Mike
Woody Harrelson ... Jango
Fred Ward ... Jerry
James Hiroyuki Liao ... Al

Thank you for reading.

Summary: An average comedy drama