Sorry, to Bother You-Review
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Lakeith Stanfield plays Cassius Green a struggling guy who lives with his girlfriend Misty, portrayed by Tessa Thompson, in his uncle’s garage in Sorry, to Bother You. Cassius is applying for a telemarketing job so he can pay his rent and take care of his girl and himself. It’s not the ideal job he wants but it’s all he can get at the moment. As long as he Sticks to the Script (S.T.T.S) he’ll do ok. Cassius catches on quickly at Regalview and gets a promotion upstairs to become a power caller.
Cassius alienates his friends and coworkers who are trying to get better rights and pay for the workers at Regalview. They plan a work off by doing a phones down stance. And later picketing scabs. At this point Cassius is one of the big shots and his girlfriend Misty doesn’t like what he’s become at the expense of his friends. She leaves him all alone with his new apartment and car, Maserati.
Bootz Riley has assembled a great cast of up and comers such Steven Yun as Squeeze a co worker at the telemarketing office, Terry Cruz as Cassius’s Uncle and Armie Hammer as an aloof owner of a controversial company called Worry Free. Riley has never directed before so to get all this young talent for his feature debut was quite the cue. The script and subject matter are the reasons why they all signed on to this film.
If you ever worked for a company or employer who uses the laws to underpay or mistreat employees you can relate to Sorry, to Bother You. This film has a political viewpoint of the treatment of people at the hands of greedy businesses and the like. Riley wants you to understand your the victim at the hands of these people. It’s not your fault your poor and struggle from day to day. You are owed a better life by these companies and businesses in terms of better benefits and wages.
The way he goes about this is the odd thing. This film really has weird turn in the third act but by then the message is loud and clear. You just have to overlook the weirdness of this part of the film. This is an incredible film with a great story. Until the end that is. Even only having 3 channels on tv when Cassius is flipping stations is part of the overall depth of this film. An art show by Misty is very self indulgent though. By this point in the film Riley is hitting you over the head with opinions of the world we live in. Life isn’t fun more times than not. People are always going to struggle. And the Rich are going to keep trying to be richer any way they can. I hear you Bootz Riley loud and clear. Your message doesn’t get past me at all.
4 stars
Dan Skip Allen
From the Fourth Row! 