Sorry to Bother You: …Okay, What?
May 2018: Sean sees trailer for Sorry to Bother You for the first time. Sean thinks, “A movie set in the 70’s/80’s about an African American man who is a cold caller and uses a ‘white person’s voice’ to get more sales. Looks and sounds funny!”
July 2018: Sean sees glowing reviews for Sorry to Bother You. Not only does it receive an 80 on Metacritic, but a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Sean thinks, “That’s certified fresh by golly! I better go see this!”
Today: WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!?! That movie wasn’t set 40 years ago! It was set in present day! In some kind of alternate reality! It was funny! But, like, WHAT?!?!
Boots Riley, the writer and director of this movie, is on something. I don’t know what, but definitely something. Not in my wildest dreams could I think up something like this, and let me tell you, I have an imagination. Anyways, on to the movie!
Seriously though, what a ride. I expected a really funny movie with your classic “main character starts out slow, goes too far halfway through, leading to an eventual redemption at the end” storyline set several years ago, but that’s far from what we got. The movie is set in present day, but not our present day. I felt like I was watching some crazy combination of Beverly Hills Cop, Office Space, Hunger Games, Ready Player One, and dare I say it… but a hint of the original Planet of the Apes.1 Obviously, this is not what I was expecting. The movie is nonstop with some of the weirder things I have ever seen on screen. Your standard comedy about a guy that just wants to pay his rent turns into… something else. There’s really only one thing Sorry to Bother You had that I actually expected walking into the theatre. This movie is FUNNY. The amount of bland satire thrown around combined with the number of ridiculous lines and moments had laughs flowing all over the place.2 As weird as this movie got, it was always able to fall back on it’s humor and that in itself was great.
The cast was really solid here as well. Tessa Thompson was great, because obviously, and because she is in literally every movie and tv show in 2018. Danny Glover was there, teaching the main character how to use his “white people voice.” Armie Hammer showed up, playing your very funny, but not so typical billionaire mogul. And then we got a great performance out of Lakeith Stanfield, playing the lead in Cassius Green, who is on his quest to make a name for himself by being the best telemarketer out there, the “Power Caller.”3 But in the end, the most fun from Sorry to Bother You, came from those “white people voices,” which were voiced by Patton Oswalt and David Cross. Everyone at the theatre is so taken aback by the voice of Tobias Fünke4 coming out of the mouth of Cassius that all you can do is laugh. It’s so weird that it almost works. But I don’t know. I’m just so confused.
Verdict: Good…?
I don’t know! I’m pretty sure that I enjoyed myself. I think. I definitely laughed a lot. But I still cannot wrap my head around whatever Boots Riley was thinking when he wrote this movie. It’s kind of like he put a Truman Show5 like bubble around a “New Oakland” and then decided to make the city into literally whatever he thought up the night before in his dreams. But not a recurring dream. You know how you can have five nights in a row with five different dreams that all make you question your reality when you wake up? That’s what this movie is, in a nutshell. But also really freaking funny. I want to tell you more about this movie, but I feel that any further review is just ruining it.
You have to see it. Literally. Don’t read spoilers, just see it. I don’t even care if you wait until it comes out on demand in a couple months, just make sure you see this movie. But if you don’t, you might as well just watch Pan’s Labyrinth. They’re essentially the same thing. Except that Pan’s Labyrinth is all in Spanish, and this isn’t.
Just watch it please. Then call me so I can empty my brain out. Thanks.
- The fact that I just used that sentence in my lifetime has me shaking a little bit.
- Although sometimes the audience was literally only laughing at this one guy in the theatre because his cackle was so tremendously awful.
- From personal experience, you can be a great cold caller, but there is no such thing as the best cold caller.
- Arrested Development, people. Yes, you should watch it if you haven’t. It’s on Netflix. Come on.
- Yes, another movie I am mashing into the description.
