Management

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Rating 2¾


Written and directed by Steve Belber

Starring Jennifer Aniston (Sue Claussen), Steve Zahn (Mike Flux), Wood Harrelson (Jango), Fred Ward (Jerry Flux), Margo Martindale (Trish Flux) and James Hiroyuki Liao (Al)


Mike Flux, the night manager of his parents’ motel in Arizona, develops a crush on Sue Claussen, a passing visitor from Baltimore. He follows her back there and their relationship develops, but the road to true love is a rocky one and she leaves Baltimore for Washington State to get back together with an old boyfriend.

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‘Management’ is a low-key indie rom-com. It contains all the expected quirks of its genre, but despite a decidedly peculiar opening fifteen minutes or so, it gradually becomes a rather heartfelt story, thanks in no small part to a decent screenplay and some good performances. Certainly, Steve Zahn’s character Mike is initially rather creepy, almost a kind of comic Norman Bates, but it is possible to start to warm to him as the film progresses. Equally, the seemingly odd behaviour of Jennifer Aniston’s character Sue begins to make a little more sense as we learn that she is, like Mike, lonely and, in her own way, directionless.

The film received mixed reviews and has a 46% rating at Rotten Tomatoes from 94 reviews. It received a limited theatrical release and grossed $2.2 million. It probably deserves to be compared to Aniston’s excellent 2002 indie film ‘The Good Girl’.

Review posted on 21 November 2010


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