Management

Management

“Mike works at his parents' motel in Kingman, population 27,000, on old Route 66. Sue sells art for a Baltimore firm to corporations for office walls. He takes one look at her from behind as she registers at the motel and determines to connect. He's sweet, but hapless, with no ambition other than spending time with her. She's enigmatic - rarely smiling, occasionally impulsive, committed to helping homeless people, feeling the clock tick after a breakup with a boyfriend who could have provided security. Is there any way he stands a chance with her? What can he offer?”

3.5 stars

This is not your typical romantic comedy, and that's clear from the very beginning of the movie. Mike (Steve Zahn) is a quiet, lonely guy working as the night manager for his parent's rural motel. But when Sue (Jennifer Anniston) shows up looking for a room for the night, he proves that he's got more cajones than we might initially expect. He knocks on her door one night to offer her the "complimentary bottle of wine" they give to all guests . . . yeah right. It's clearly a line, but he delivers it with such honesty that Sue plays along . . . for a little while bit before politely kicking him out. This is where the movie really could have gone one of two ways. It could have been the romantic comedy it turned into or it could have easily taken a Norman Bates turn and become an awful horror flick. Luckily it was the former. After checking out of the motel, Sue doubles back to find Mike in the motel laundromat. In an inexplicable moment of desire Sue jumps Mike and they, um, 'do some laundry'.

On the surface the movie seems pretty predictable, and for the most part it is. We're left to assume that Sue is tired of the fast, somewhat fake life in the big city and is intrigued by this humble small town guy. However, she thinks it is a onetime fling but Mike, just like a puppy, decides to follow her back home leading to some obviously odd situations.

Even though the story may not knock you out of your seat, it does send a pretty good message. There is a constant theme of persistence and going after what you truly want, but the bigger message is shown through the evolution of Sue's character. She comes to realize that she has spent so much of her life focusing on other "causes" that she has neglected her own self and sense of purpose. And that can be true for many of us who may focus on the outside world as a way to avoid exploring own inner selves.

A high point of the movie, though, is casting. It is spot on. No other person could have pulled off this role other than Steve Zahn. He has to walk a very fine line to keep his character endearing and affable because it could easily slip over to creepy and weird. He also has to chops to complete Mike's transformation in the end into a much more strong and capable person. As actors go, I think he's pretty underrated. Woody Harrelson also does a good job walking a tight rope as the man who is competing with Mike for Mike's affections. He's enough of a jerk that the audience pleads for Mike to win, but he shows enough heart that we actually feel for him in the end. I also think Sue has another really good performance. In the big picture, I think she has done a good job in selecting roles since Friends. She is not completely trying to go to the opposite spectrum of Rachel Green, but she has picked parts that inch farther and farther away so that eventually, she will be considered in the class of actresses that really can run the gambit from dramatic to comedic.

In the end, the film isn't anything to write home about but it's another one of those that you could put on your list for watching on a Sunday evening.