Movie Review: Sorry to Bother You

Sorry to Bother You

Director: Boots Riley

Starring: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Steven Yeun, Terry Crews, Armie Hammer, Omari Hardwick, Danny Glover, David Cross, Patton Oswalt

Rating: R

Runtime: 105 minutes

Sorry to Bother You finally got its wide release this weekend and, being a big fan of Lakeith Stanfield, I was looking forward to watching this movie. I avoided watching or reading a lot of promotional material for the flick, as the little bits of gossip I’d heard surrounding it were about how strange the movie apparently was. I wanted to experience the viewing without any expectations, and I’m glad I decided to do so. This was one of the strangest, most surreal, and most ambitious films I have seen in a long time.

Stanfield plays Cassius Green, an initially unemployed nobody living in his uncle (Terry Crews)’s garage who, after getting a job as a telemarketer and discovers the power of using his “white voice” in calls (Cassius’ white voice being provided by David Cross), rises through the ranks of the calling business and simultaneously discovers how twisted and strange his world has become. My summary really doesn’t do the movie justice, however, as the movie’s overblown satire and surrealism are hard to describe if it hasn’t been seen.

The movie takes a critical look at one aspect of American society and then uses many insane analogies to drive the point home. I don’t want to say what the aspect of society is because of spoilers, but I would say the movie does an amazing and creative job of showing off just how bizarre life can be when most of society is willing to accept typically insane activity as the norm. The movie really is brilliant in addressing this topic in many ways, but I personally did think that some of the later scenes depicting insanity (especially the VERY last scene as well as the brief mid-credits scene) were a little too much and were there just to shock without having something to say.

The acting in this movie is great, and Stanfield shows that he has the chops to play the leading role in a film. Stanfield is an actor who feels like he’s playing a different parallel universe Stanfield in each film rather than a character; all his roles sort of feel like him and yet each one has something unique to the character that sets them apart as performances and not just lazy acting. Steven Yeun, who I didn’t even know was in this movie until I went to see it, gives an excellent performance as Squeeze, a beacon of hope in the growing chaos in Cassius’ world. Danny Glover even gives a few short but memorable lines in the movie (especially his monologue while teaching Stanfield’s character how to do the white voice).

Tessa Thompson’s character is a type that I’m not typically fond of in fiction (ultra-radical and hyper-alternative) but Thompson’s performance is captivating and sympathetic despite my personal tastes. And I’m sure Armie Hammer was thrilled to have a crazy comedic role like this one after his more serious outing in Call Me by Your Name.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the voice acting for Cassius and Mr. _______ (Omari Hardwick)’s white voices (Mr. _______’s white voice performed by Patton Oswalt). They aren’t just the voices of white guys, they’re white guys doing impressions of white guys. It’s an idea that’s smart and insanely funny to see in effect.

There are also some really creative shots in this film, such as the way they film phone call conversations in this, and a really creative scene involving new furniture growing out of old ones.

Of course, there are some parts of the movie that do get extremely ridiculous, and while I do think that a lot of the insanity is justified because it really drives home how serious the point of the movie is, it does cross over into a point of goofiness rather than genius at a certain point for me and unfortunately that does hurt my overall opinion of the film.

Regardless of this small negative, Sorry to Bother You is incredibly captivating and extremely timely. It’s a film that I think will turn a lot of audiences off just by how over-the-top it gets at a certain point, but if you’re able to look past the absurdity to find the meaning within I think it’s a film that’s absolutely worth seeing. Easily one of my favorites of the year so far.