One Mann’s Movies review of “The Assistant” (2020).
Bob the Movie Man’s Rating:
Certification:
US: R. UK: 15.
So, this is my first movie review post in a very long time. I’ve been in a bit of a lock-down movie grump to be honest! Movies need to be seen on the big screen, in an auditorium, where you can’t “pause it to make a coffee” or “nip to the loo”! But I have – grumpily – started to watch a few new movies via streaming, and the first of these write ups is this first (semi-)fictional feature from documentary-maker Kitty Green: “The Assistant”. And she does a knock-out job.
A day in the life.
We first meet Jane (Julia Garner) at ‘God-knows-what-o-clock’ in the morning as she arrives at her workplace – a New York film-production company. First to arrive every morning, she turns on the lights, turns on the screens, makes the pot of coffee and cleans off stains from her boss’s couch. The stain isn’t coffee. A lost gold bracelet is recovered.
For we are in a truly toxic working environment here. ‘The boss’ – clearly modelled on Harvey Weinstein – is a bullying tyrant who can reduce Jane and her two male assistants (Jon Orsini and Noah Robbins) to quivering wrecks. “WHAT THE F*** DID YOU SAY TO HER” barks the boss down the phone at Jane, after she has had a perfectly reasonable phone conversation with the estranged Mrs Boss.
The toxicity is pervasive though throughout Miram…, sorry…., ‘the company’. Jane is almost invisible to her other co-workers who don’t give her eye-contact even when she’s talking to them and barely register her presence when sharing a lift.
Helping compose the perfect apology email. The assistants team: Jon Orsini, Julia Garner and Noah Robbins. (Source: Vertigo Releasing).
The sexual angle.
But bullying and workplace toxicity is just part of this story. A steady stream of starlets arrive in the office, like meat deliveries to a butcher. In a chilling sequence, the photocopier churns out photos of beautiful actresses…. a paper-based equivalent of swiping-left or -right in the selection process. None of the “if you… I will” discussions are shown, but they don’t need to be: the inference is clear.
Jane is smart, slim and pretty… but not in an obvious ‘Hollywood way’. “You’ll be OK…” says a co-worker “you’re not his type”.
But someone who distinctly is “his type” is Sienna (Kristine Froseth), a “very very young” aspiring waitress-cum-actress from Boise, who suddenly and unexpectedly arrives as a “new assistant”… to be promptly put up in a swanky hotel room. It’s time to act… and Jane approaches the company HR manager (Matthew Macfadyen)….
En route to the swanky hotel. Jane (Julia Garner) and Sienna (Norwegian actress and model Kristine Froseth). (Source: Vertigo Releasing).
An unseen threat.
An old Spielberg trick is to increase tension by keeping the “monster” hidden from view: cue the tanker driver from “Duel” and (for most of the film) the shark from “Jaws”. Here, the boss is felt only as a malevolent force and never seen on screen. It’s an approach that works brilliantly, focusing the emotion on the effect he has on those flamed.
There is also recognition that these powerful people are also hugely intelligent and manipulative. Seeing that Jane is a valuable asset, the public berating is sometimes followed up with a private email apology…. dripping a few words of encouragement and praise like a few drops of Methadone to a drug-addict.
I actually have some experience of this subject. I once worked as “an assistant” (not “the assistant”, thank-God…. poor sod) for a high-level female executive in a former company. She ran the place with a similarly toxic rule of fear. It was massively divisive and hugely un-productive. (To be clear here, my experience was of the work atmosphere… not the sexual exploitation bit. OBVIOUSLY I’m a ‘sex-God’… but…. no).
Jane getting a verbal bollocking from the unseen boss. (Source: Vertigo Releasing).
What’s not to love?
This is an excellent movie and thoughtfully and elegantly directed. Following a normal day in Jane’s work life…. albeit a day where perhaps the penny finally drops… is immersive and engaging. And at only 88 minutes long, the movie never outstays its welcome.
The performances are first rate. Julia Garner is magnificent, and in a year where the Oscars will be “interesting”, here’s a good candidate for Best Actress I would suggest if not Best Picture. Garner’s an actress I’m unfamiliar with: the only one of her previous flicks I’ve seen was Sin City 2 (a favourite satirical review of mine by the way!).
Also oily and impressive is Matthew Macfadyen as the HR manager.
There’s also a sparse but well-used score by Tamar-kali.
“Do you want me to file this?” – giving HR managers a bad name… Matthew Macfadyen plays Wilcock. (Source: Vertigo Releasing).
Sorry… What was that?
The one area I found poor was in the sound design. It’s clearly filmed in an office environment, rather than on a sound stage, and unfortunately the combination of the acoustics and the New York accents makes some of the dialogue really difficult to hear. An example is a discussion between two co-workers in an office kitchen, which was completely indecipherable for me.
Talented women both: writer/director Kitty Green and Julia Garner. (Source: FF2 Media).
Should I watch this?
In my view, definitely, yes. It’s chilling and an insight into the terrible ordeal that many professional women in the film industry, and other industries, have had to put up with before the “Me Too” lid was blown off (and many probably still do). The most telling line in the film? At the end of the “Thanks” in the end-titles: “All those who shared their experiences”.
But, that being said, it seems to have found no love on IMDB… many of the reviews on there (which I only read after writing this) describe it as dull, boring and a waste of celluloid. So watch it, make your own mind up, and comment below!
It’s available for low-cost rent (I only paid £4) via Amazon video, and is probably available elsewhere too.
Trailer:
The trailer for “The Assistant” is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9761kQCNWc.
