Sorry to Bother You (2018)

Ah, the return of changed plans has now commenced.

Sometimes, you start out preparing and convincing yourself that you're gonna give a specific blockbuster about dinosaurs a chance, after being intrigued and curious from the advertising (seriously, who wouldn't want to see Chris Pratt try to out-run a dust storm). Then, all of a sudden, a trailer for, quote, "the most original comedy in years" pops up on your news feed and...

Sorry, you prehistoric aberrations. I must proceed to another bold comedy about race in America. Sorry to bother you.

And by that, I mean not sorry.

The film revolves around Cassius, a gentleman down on his luck, living in his uncle's garage with his artist girlfriend. Determined to find a job, he equips himself with a custom-made trophy and employee-of-the-month plaque, along with a fake-ass resume, and goes it for a job interview for a telemarketing company, Rearview. In spite of this, he receives the job and at first, he struggles.

That is until our newly-proclaimed Black Messiah, Danny Glover, shows up and instructs Cassius the way to flourish: by using your white voice. Utilizing this idea, Cassius rises to the top as a power caller, working alongside the cream of the crop of the company. Meanwhile, Squeeze, a fellow employee is at the forefront of a protest against Rearview to push for better pay, which puts him and Cassius at odds with each other. It gets worse when Cassius realizes that Rearview may be marketing something that is far beyond wholesome or helpful.

I prefer to call this less a film and more of a poppy, stunning bag of tricks clasped in the furious, scintillating hands of rapper/director/writer/maybe-still-a-Marxist Boots Riley. Watching the trailer for this, I was expecting to be predominantly a satire, but Riley manages to incorporate all sorts of comedy in this film, ranging from the absurdist comedy found in scenes such as Cassius' girlfriend's art exhibit performance, to the dark comedy such as the "N*gga Shit" scene (it happens), to the slapstick comedy found in the clips of a in-universe television series, "I Got the Shit Kicked Out of Me," to just standard witty interplay between our characters. And all of them manages to inject this film with such a surreal energy and a savage spirit.

Yes, satire does pervade throughout the film, but the bemusing brilliance of Riley is that satire is more of a counterpart in the film, not the particular goal. He has such an acute sensibility as a writer and such a gargantuan, limitless, field of view as a director that he has the cojones to interject little spurts of social commentary and biting satire sporadically and it's never rushed. It even goes beyond the whole "white voice" conceit, which actually isn't used as much as you would assume.

Consider a scene where Cassius is led out against an angry mob and a soda can is thrown at him. It becomes a viral video, to the point where it becomes a Halloween costume. It could be seen as commenting on how overboard and overzealous we can be when we attempt to viralise politics or it can be seen as satirizing how simple we are as consumers and how we virtually need current issues to be, or be introduced by, some sort of distraction that catches us off guard. And this is all ignoring the fact that it could also be a indirect, unique method to comment on blackface.

How about the fact that Cassius' boss when he becomes a power caller is also African-American and is also contractually bound to speak with a white voice? His name? It's always bleeped out, never being mentioned once throughout the entire film. The film never seems to express an immense distaste of black people whom are perceived to be "selling out," so in this case, it could be seen as an inauspicious yet genuine part of life where sometimes, certain things need to be compromised at certain times, or it could also be seen as what it is: censorship, a blatant, flabbergasted disapproval of an African-American's name, which statistically shown, is a very real problem in this country.

Or how about WorryFree, which...I'll just let you watch the film and figure that out for yourself.

And watch, specifically watch, the film you should, because while the film is invigorating in its potential discourse, it is absolutely masterful in its visuals. I can only fucking hope that Riley and cinematographer Doug Emmett will be recurring collaborators, because every close-up, every pan-out shot, every pan-in shot, every little visual trick employed couldn't have been this fulsome and this stimulating, unless it was under the direction of two synthesized minds who can read and feel each other completely. Speaking of which, I'm also clamoring for Riley to do more musical work with Tune-Yards, because what they have done here is craft a score that flirts with normalcy and convention and then flips it on its head a few times, resulting in an amazing soundtrack.

Riley has also managed to gather together the most universally B-list, yet pitch-perfect group of actors for his film. Tessa Thompson makes for perfectly amiable eye candy as Detroit, Cassius' girlfriend, yet circumvents being just a boring pretty woman by possessing a bold, steadfast demeanor and even an inordinately looney edge, if her art exhibit performance is any indication. Lakeith Stanfield graduates from being that perpetual, obligatory, black film supporting actor and moves on to a lead role as Cassius. And boy, does he not squander it, perfectly muting and controlling his performance, as to only play an Everyman, thus making every comedic quip funnier and every dramatic moment more relatable. We also get vocal cameos from Rosario Dawson, Patton Oswalt, and David Cross, the last two portraying the white voices of Mr. Bleep and Cassius, respectively. It's a very potent move and moment that these two white actors allow themselves to portray these self-kidding yet complexly relevant roles.

What an alive, vivid, driving film this is. To me, this film does to comedy what Get Out did to horror. In fact, I think this film is better than Get Out. While Get Out had the entertainment value covered, Sorry to Bother You has more of a vision. It's not merely another cinematic racial allegory, but a film made by people who love the cinema. What was ostensibly a film seemingly made to comment on racial perspectives and disparities reveals itself to be about the dirge of economics, the almost adorable fallacies of human life, and an ordinary man trying to make a better life for himself.

This Boots was made for filmmaking. And that's what he should do...along with continuing to be a dope musical artist.

RATING: Three-and-a-half stars out of four