Review of Management (2009) by Jason W — 11 May 2010

Mike (Steve Zahn) is the night manager at a small motel owned by his parents (Margo Martindale and Fred Ward). One night a traveling saleswoman, Sue (Jennifer Aniston), stops by for a night's stay while she attends meetings in Arizona, and Mike is immediately smitten. Originally creeped out by Mike's advances, Sue decides to throw him a bone before she leaves to go back to Maryland. Mike can't get enough of Sue, and proceeds to buy a one way ticket to visit her in Maryland.

In 2009 we saw the wrong way to make a romantic stalker comedy with All About Steve, but before that playwright and screenwriter Stephen Belber offered up Management. Having worked as a writer in residence at Juliard as well as having received commissions from Manhattan Theater Club, Playwrights Horizons, the Hungtington Theater, Arena Stage, and Philadelphia Theater Company he seemed like the perfect choice to write and helm this type of semi-romantic comedy. Add to that the charm of Steve Zahn and Jennifer Aniston and it would seem that you would have a sure-fire hit.

Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. Not to say that the movie's bad, but it unfortunately bombed at the box office. To be honest, the quirkiness of this movie isn't for everyone, but the natural charm of Steve Zahn makes his slight bit of creepiness palpable. But Stephen Belber fleshes out his characters making their actions more understandable at times when you'd typically be asking, "What's going on here?" And while you might still find yourself saying that at times in the movie, but as you move further through the narrative you find more of the motivation for their actions.

The acting is pretty good, which has a lot to do with the likability of the actors. Steve Zahn hits the right note between creepy and sincere/naivete. Jennifer Aniston is better than I typically think she is as Mike's love interest, a girl with a bit of a complex for always helping people. The movie is stolen by a cameo in the second act by Woody Harrelson as Sue's on again off again boyfriend and ex-punk Jango. As always I'm amazed at how well a hippy can play a badass!

As always though, Management is an indie movie that falls into that trap of most indie movies: quirkiness for the sake of being quirky. While Steve Zahn plays his role very well and makes him believable, the writing doesn't do much for the character making him simply too naïve and too much of a simpleton. Also, at first, you can't really read Aniston's character at the beginning of the movie, and her choice to sleep with Mike seems off-putting and can turn off viewers early on.

I did enjoy this movie, but I do really think that it's not really for everyone. It's a decent movie, and I recommend it if you feel the inclination. Not quite good enough to be apart of my collection, but worth a viewing.

3/5.