Sorry To Bother You Movie Review
In his directorial debut Boots Riley takes us on the rollercoaster of satirical brilliance that is Sorry to Bother You. The story focuses on the journey of Cassius “Cash” Green (Lakeith Stanfield) a young african american man attempting to find purpose in a dystopian present day Oakland, California. His first step to creating a positive future and making ends meet for he and his girlfriend, Detroit (Tessa Thompson) is his new job at the telemarketing company Regal View.
After a difficult introduction to the telemarketing craft, Cassius’ experienced coworker Langston (Danny Glover) introduces him to the ideology of “white voice” the hilariously composed technique in which during an outgoing call to a potential customer Cassius’ voice is replaced with comedian David Cross’s giving him caucasian vocal abilities. With using this technique Cassius rapidly rises through the ranks at Regal View, ultimately landing him the prestigious “power caller” promotion to work amongst the most elite of partner companies. The biggest name being Worry Free a widely advertised company that promotes the unsurely practical life of free living arrangements, food, and other amenities they provide in exchange to a contract of labor for life.
Whilst Cassius is moving up and enjoying his new found successes he finds himself distancing from his coworkers drive in the coinciding union labor strike for more pay at Regal View he was once all aboard for. This leaves him torn between the pressures and expectations of the people in his life and the paycheck he is now receiving. Once getting past the shameful doubts of working along side Worry Free, Steve Lift (Armie Hammer) the founder of Worry Free himself decides he would like to meet Cassius, and invites him to attend one of his prominently infamous parties. It is here that Cassius finds himself facing potentially the most important conflictions imaginable. Among all of the endless surprises, this film particularly surprised me with it’s awesome imagery and intuitive shots. Some of my favorites being Detroit’s incredibly distinctive earrings seen throughout, as well as her performance art.
Another being the very eerie and undeniably gloomy portrayal of C. E. O Steve List’s wild cocaine and sex filled houseparty. I also found myself very drawn to the seemingly fast pace pertaining to the film, as there was a constant upbeat underlying hip hop music pertaining throughout many of the key scenes. Perhaps the best aspect of Sorry to Bother You is the story’s constant ability to keep the viewers engagement and undivided attention. This is truly what stood out the most to me in comparison to other recent films, as soon as an element becomes even remotely dry, Riley throws you yet another curveball. I feel as if the casting of Lakeith Stanfield is a match made in heaven as he puts on a perfect display in his portrayal of Cassius Green. The Atlanta actor projects the character to be easily relatable. Boots Riley attempts to take on racism, social class prejudice, and critiques capitalism, specifically the idea that the upper class is selling lies to lower class people. However he does so in a manner that is not overwhelming nor too serious by any means. In my opinion he does a damn good job of doing so.
While Sorry to Bother You has a very sporadic and seemingly all over the place plotline, though it is indirect, the film is hilarious and eye opening to new perspectives. It in my opinion, one hundred percent works, much more effectively than many critically acclaimed movies I’ve seen with very understandably direct plotlines. Sorry to Bother You is a film that you ultimately can not give a simple single genre category, as doing so would limit and much possibly disrespect the inventive masterpiece. That being said I feel as if the ingenuity of the story and it’s battle with reality could very well fly over a select few heads. Most viewers will be able find something to attach to and draw connections with from their own life experiences, while I feel as if others could be discouraged and find themselves wondering what they missed at certain times. The story’s most intriguing trait is it’s fearless courage to take risks and further the plotline regardless of the possible outcomes, thus being the reason Sorry to Bother You will go down as an instant cult classic.
