Review of Management (2009) by Chads. — 14 May 2009
Romantic comedies often corroborate on the New Wave notion that "the history of cinema is boys photographing girls." What filmmaker Jean Luc Goddard meant, without apology, was that film is, and always will be, largely a patriarchal construct.
In other words, the guy, more often than not, gets his girl. For girls, it's harder. No matter how many fish sticks and tater tots Dawn Wiener(Heather Matarazzo) heats up for Steve(Eric Mabius) in Todd Solondz's "Welcome to the Dollhouse", the hunky lead singer of her older brother's clarinet-driven band will never give the plain girl a fighting chance.
The cinema is rigged so ordinary men can pursue, and win over, women who are clearly out of their league. With a tradition of conquering underdogs on his side, Mike tells Sue, "You have a great butt," which should earn him a drink tossed in his face, but instead, the professional woman bends over, like the Maggie Gyllenhaal character in Steven Shainberg's "Secretary".
Even though Sue is more accomplished than Mike, the submissive position that she assumes, has the unintended effect of revealing how the male hero always has control over the girl he's pursuing, regardless of how great the odds are stacked against him.
"Management" is just a little more brazen about the fix than most films. According to this movie, groping works; stalking works too...on both coasts. What "Management" lacks is a genuine romantic moment.
Skydiving into a pool is funny, but not romantic, as is serenading Sue with a Bad Company song. When Sue puts her hand on Mike's butt, the film romanticizes her own objectification. At the very least, Mike should tell Sue that she's beautiful.
This review of Management (2009) was written by Chads. on 14 May 2009.
Management has generally received mixed reviews.
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