With the economy the way it is today, it’s hard to find a job. Sometimes, it almost seems like the only thing to do is rob a bank or find somebody who’s willing to pay to marry you for a green card. It’s tempting, I get that, really I do. But what happens when you get desperate enough that you would actually choose to undertake one of these ideas? That’s when you find The Job.
In The Job, Bubba Brady (played by Patrick Flueger) is that desperate. He’s been in and out of work for several months now, and it’s looking more and more like he won’t be able to afford to marry his girlfriend (Taryn Manning) for a long time. Then Bubba meets Jim. Jim is a drifter who knows a guy that may have a job open. Bubba is thrilled. He can marry Joy (the aforementioned girlfriend) and start a life with her. But when Bubba gets the job, it’s not exactly what he expected. For $200,000, he must make a choice between right and wrong, and decide if he can carry out the task at hand.
Honestly, this film isn’t exactly what I expected either. It’s based on Shem Bitterman’s award-winning Off-Broadway play, and I figured that meant it would be really amazing. It wasn’t. The Job is definitely average, and that’s being kind. I’d say that perhaps the play is better, but considering both are written by Bitterman, who also directed the film version, I’m thinking it probably is just as bad.
The main problem is that Bubba isn’t very believable. Yeah, he seems pretty stressed out about his financial situation, but I just didn’t see him as the type to be willing to commit murder for a few hundred thousand dollars. He is very wishy-washy and that seems to be a combined effect of Flueger’s subpar acting and a script with lame attempts at character development. Bubba isn’t the only character that doesn’t feel real; it’s really an issue with the entire cast. Sure, the script doesn’t really give them much to work with, but an excellent actor generally shines through regardless, and none of the effort here is very impressive.
There are other problems as well. Supposedly this is a black comedy, but comedies are usually funny. The Job has a lot of situations that could have been funny, but again, the cast just didn’t seem to get it. And the pacing is sloooooow. The viewer will most likely think it was at least twice as long as it actually was. You can literally feel yourself aging as the movie progresses.
While there are several problems, I can’t complain about the audio or visual quality. The colors are a little washed out at times, but I’m pretty sure it was intentional. It was a little distracting at first, but once you get used to it, it’s easy to forgive.
The Job is nothing special, and I wouldn’t really recommend it, unless you are unemployed and have nothing better to do with your time. And even then, I’d suggest you save your money and rent it. It’s not likely you’ll want to watch it more than once anyway.
Ron Perlman and Joe Pantoliano also star.
DVD Bonus Features
There is a “Making of The Job” featurette as well as an alternate ending. I won’t reveal to you what it is, but to be honest, it’s about as awesome as the actual ending, which is to say, not awesome in the least.
"The Job" is on sale July 27, 2010 and is rated R. Comedy, Drama, Thriller. Written by Shem Bitterman. Starring Joe Pantoliano, Patrick John Flueger, Ron Perlman, Taryn Manning.
