Film Review: "The Good Boss"

 

                                

Released in theaters now, “The Good Boss” starring Javier Bardem is a wickedly dark and funny satire.  Audiences follow Blanco (Bardem) as an owner of an industrial scales manufacturing business. Awaiting a  visit that could give the company an award for excellence, Blanco has to resolve problems faced by his workers and himself. This forces him to try and fix his staff's problems in a short amount of time.  If that description makes “The Good Boss” sound like a zany comedy, then its dark and wicked satire will shock you.  

Stories like “The Good Boss” are designed to make audiences think about the world today. They are usually cautionary tales, warning us of issues we may face in a working society. Writer and Director Fernando León de Aranoa put Bardem through an engaging emotional gambit. It is a narrative arc that starts on a low simmer until it reaches an explosive boiling point. The tension up to the boiling is conveyed so efficiently with a lead performance that lures audiences in with its composure. Both Aranoa and Bardem give this character the narrative space of someone sinisterly complex.

We have seen characters in the film who appear composed and eventually break down over the course of the story.  Bardem has his breakdown in a way that feels fresh but never inhumane. He is a character with his own dark and twisted problems, but relishes his status as a company owner. Seeing Blanco’s demeanor change is scary, and surprising while delivering some great laughs. This magnetic performance by Bardem makes the story of “The Good Boss” more frustrating as it goes along. It is especially frustrating as Blanco’s situations feel more and more manufactured.

Problems such as staff members' relationship issues offer some dark tension and allow Bardem to ooze his way into his staff's personal lives. He conveys a fake sense of worry and concern for his team in a charming but menacing way. When Blanco shows a sardonic gleam in his eye, we fear what he is willing to do for success. The problem is that there needs to be more of these twisted moments. There is a certain point in the film where Blanco’s situations become personal, like the hiring of a young new employee at the company. To avoid spoilers, let us say the realistic drama transitions into melodrama.

The story suffers from less attractive melodrama that loses sight of the earlier effective social commentary. The melodrama forces Blanco to race against the clock as he anxiously awaits the committee’s arrival.  His problems at this point begin to feel like Looney Toon's hijinks. Bardem keeps us engaged with the character, but the story loses its satirical edge. Elements become straightforward and are never as interesting as what came before, making the middle portion of the film feel like a slog to get through. Thankfully the conclusion brings us back to what made the story engaging in the first place.

“The Good Boss” suffers due to a tone that feels entirely inconsistent with moments in the first half that have scathing amounts of social satire. Issues arise when the story takes a shift in the second half.  The darkly comedic social satire is traded for Bardem to simply act his way out of hellish personal situations. Bardem is scarily effective in this role but is not as menacing once the drama shifts.  The wild swings in tone increase the film’s problems. If you are going to see “The Good Boss” you should go in for nothing more than the gripping lead performance.