Saturday, July 7, 2018

Sorry to Bother You Movie Review

Lakeith Stanfield stars in Sorry to Bother You

Don't Bother

Rotten Tomatoes Plot: In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, black telemarketer Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) discovers a magical key to professional success, which propels him into a macabre universe of "power-calling" that leads to material glory. But the upswing in Cassius' career raises serious red flags with his girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson), a performance artist and minimum-wage striver who's secretly part of a Banksy-style activist collective. As his friends and co-workers organize in protest of corporate oppression, Cassius falls under the spell of his company's cocaine-snorting CEO Steve Lift (Armie Hammer), who offers him a salary beyond his wildest dreams. Directed by Boots Riley.


Sorry to Bother You starts off strong, thanks (almost exclusively) to the charismatic Stanfield, a bonafide star in the making. Watching his tumultuous climb to "the top tier of telemarketing" is wildly entertaining. And then the absurdity begins. Rapper-turned-director Riley attacks white, corporate America by any-and-all means necessary, including bogus white accents (voiced by caucasian actors) equisapiens (horse people) and a performance artist who asks her friends to toss cell phones, sheep blood and shell casings at her, while reciting lines from The Last Dragon. Innovative? Sure, but save the anarchist propaganda for the misguided critics who label it genius.

Grade: D+