In Management, Belber’s debut as a film director (with a screenplay he also wrote), the playwright creates some interesting characters only to let them wallow inertly within an uninteresting and predictable plot. Belber’s stage credits include Match, The Laramie Project, and Tape (he adapted his own script for Richard Linklater’s 2001 film of the same name). Aniston is cast as Sue, a more upscale variation on her emotionally stunted Good Girl character. Sue is a traveling saleswoman, whose product is the bland, corporate art that’s hung in identical hotel rooms across the country. On a stopover in Kingman, Ariz., lonely motel clerk Mike (Zahn) takes notice of her and seizes the opportunity to dust off an old bottle of wine, knock on her door, and present it to Sue – “courtesy of management.” It’s totally awkward and inappropriate, but before you know it, a permitted touch leads to a roll in the hay (though this traveling saleswoman takes Mike, the motel owners’ son, in the laundry room instead of the barn), and Mike is cashing in his savings on a one-way ticket to Maryland to be with the girl of his dreams. After this trip, from which she sends him packing, Mike again stalks her to Aberdeen, Wash., where she has reunited with her former boyfriend (Harrelson), a retired punk rocker-turned-yogurt mogul. Sue wants to make an impact on the world, and she can now head up her boyfriend’s nonprofit yogurt subsidiary. Harrelson lends some needed comic spark to Management, as does Liao, but it’s too little too late. There is not much that is believable in the unfolding of this romantic comedy. We constantly wonder why Sue never calls 911 (or, at the very least, creates more boundaries) between herself and her stalker. We furthermore wonder what she can possibly see in this underachieving schnook. We seriously doubt that this pair can achieve a happily ever after romcom match, and we watch as these genial performers are put through all-too-predictable paces. Management should have definitely been called on to make some adjustments.
This article appears in July 3 • 2009.
