Sorry to Bother You

We got along to the Luna a few nights back to see Sorry to Bother You, a swingeing satire on capitalism and consumerism with at least two levels dedicated to how the modern day workforce is not far off the slavery of old. When I say two levels, I mean it sets out its primary proxy in a pretty standard way, that being a company called WorryFree that offers (unpaid) jobs for life. But then, around the start of the third act, it turns into full blown Cronenbergian body-horror. This is where the second level kicks in, and for fear of spoilers, we'll save that chat for the podcast below.

This is the first film by director Boots Riley, a musician, and his different background shows a bit in the style, with rougher takes, different edit touches here and there. This bloke has a lot of stuff to get off his chest and he does so in an absurdist, mostly witty way. There are plenty of films where the lead pretends to be someone they're not, for various reasons. In Sorry to Bother You, it's black people affecting white voices in order to be accepted by their clients. The 'white voice' gimmick looks good on the plot summaries and Riley nails the race aspect, travelling nicely alongside the reality TV/viral meme circus ("I Got the Shit Kicked Out of Me" and 'Have a cola and smile, bitch'). But the real story is the massive FUCK YOU to corporate society. It doesn't really hold back here, detailing the curly choice between making lots of money and doing the right thing. It's almost a proper old protest film, full of unionists, scabs and hired muscle. Like On the Waterfront for the skateboarding kitten generation.

The cast is fine. Lakeith Stanfield's Cash comes across as a regular fella with some decisions to make, all the while conveying differing levels of discomfort with his choices. Tessa Thompson's Detroit is oddly omnipotent, like she's angling to steal the film, which she basically does with her performance art exhibition - one of the highlights for me. At this point in the film she also adopts a 'white voice', presumably to pander to the elites of the art world. And what the crap is the significance of the dialogue from a film called The Last Dragon?

"And in the end, Eddie, you know what? You're nothing but a misguided midget asshole with dreams of ruling the world. Yeah, also from Kew Gardens. And also getting by on my tits."

Worth a look, perhaps? There are sneaky little links to other films, too - Danny Glover saying "I'm too old for that shit." (Lethal Weapon) and Cash is shown a short animation made by Michel Dongry (Gondry, who appears to be a bit of an influence here). Sorry to Bother You is a confronting, weird, engaging hodge-podge of a film. I got a buzz out if it, even if it put me off the track for a while....


See also: 

An impostor-led blast from the past, Sydney Pollack's Tootsie (1982) and the earlier mentioned On the Waterfront (1954), directed by Elia Kazan.

SPOILERS IN POD!!

Listen to "Sorry to Bother You" on Spreaker.