Sorry to Bother You - Review

 

Everything you’ve heard is true. “Sorry To Bother You” is incredible. Boots Riley’s directorial debut is a contradiction in and of itself. A film advocating against capitalism that is smashing box office records. It’s a film that shouldn’t exist in this day and age, and the fact that it does makes it all the better.

The plot centers on Cassius Green, a telemarketer for RegalView who is inspired by a coworker to start using his “white voice” while on calls. He does so, and immediately becomes successful. This is what the film’s summaries and trailers describe, but it only amounts to the first third of the film. That first third is also interesting in the context of the film itself.

It has bizarre editing choices and chooses to fixate on odd points and visuals. Some moments feel awkward and some lines are delivered bizarrely. However, once Cassius begins to see the world around him as it truly exists, as opposed to how he thinks it exists, those flaws fade away, and it becomes apparent that these were all choices made by Riley to further build the world of his film.

Decisions like this come up all throughout the film. The cinematography and sets give way to some extremely inventive scenarios that are pure low budget eye candy. Everything has a kind of weird tilt to it that seems reminiscent of if Terry Giliam’s “Brazil” was set in a modern-day Oakland.

Lakeith Stanfield (“Short Term 12,” “Death Note (2017)”) plays Cassius with a goofy kind of incompetence that grows and festers throughout the film, boiling over to create a rebirth that is a joy to watch. His performance in the latter half of the film is further enhanced thanks to great “white voice” work from David Cross (“Mr. Show”, “Arrested Development”) Tessa Thompson (“Dear White People”, “Thor: Ragnarok”) plays his morally grounded, activist girlfriend Detroit with razor sharp wit and a refusal to step down from her beliefs.

Terry Crews (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Idiocracy”), Jermaine Fowler (“Superior Donuts,” “Crashing”), Steven Yeun (“The Walking Dead,” “Okja”), and Danny Glover (“The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Color Purple”) round out the supporting cast as Cassius’s Uncle and friends, respectively. However, it's Omari Hardwick (“Power,” “For Colored Girls”) and Armie Hammer (“The Social Network,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”) who completely steal the show as the manager of RegalView and the manager of WorryFree, respectively. Omari manages to provide a swagger that’s intoxicating to watch, backed up by a sleazily great “white voice” provided by Patton Oswalt (“The Goldbergs,” “Rataouille”).

“Sorry To Bother You” clearly has a lot to say. From the long scenes depicting violence towards labor unions to WorryFree’s clear slavery parallels to the latter half of the film’s startling twist, it's not afraid to put its messages front and center. However, within that decision lies the genius of Riley’s script and his world building.

This is a journey and a world so bizarrely similar and disconnected from our own, that one can ignore the political and moral allegories and still have fun with the bonkers nature of everything happening on screen. Riley carefully balances these elements in such a way that they always complement each other and never sabotage themselves. There’s even nods for hardcore film fans, including one particularly knowing wink towards director Michel Gondry’s work.

Top all of that off with a joyously bizarre musical score and set designs and you’ve got one of the most unique, bizarre, and batshit movies of the entire year, and maybe the entire decade. It's staggering that a film that features deep themes of classism and violent riots, can also pull of some extremely juvenile humor expertly. It’s a sign of a great director and a great satire.

Boots Riley has unmistakably made a mark on cinema with an audacious and bizarre debut that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. The balance of sharp wit and sobering truths, even in the face of some of the most insane ideas of the last decade of filmmaking, backed up with creative sets, cinematography and acting helps to make “Sorry To Bother You” an absolutely unforgettable satirical treat. The future is calling, Mr. Riley. And it may have an Oscar for you. 5/5