Management Blu-ray offers solid video and decent audio, but overall it's a mediocre Blu-ray release
It's lust at first sight for laid-back motel night manager Mike
when Sue , an uptight sales rep, checks in. Convinced that Sue is his dream
girl, Mike shakes up his slacker life in an outrageous pursuit across the country. But can he
steal her away from her hot-tempered boyfriend?
Both Mike and Sue must go on their own twisted journeys to find out if what they really need is
each other.
And so Jennifer Aniston cashes another check, Steve Zahn wastes his talents in another overgrown
puppy dog role, and video stores receive yet another romantic comedy that will gather dust on a
back shelf or end up face-down in the bargain bin. The genre has never been the go-to destination
for depth or authenticity, but what is it about rom-coms that inspires such dippy ridiculousness,
such unfettered emotional cloying? I can handle tepid dramas and bad horror films. I'll even sit
through dull-as-dirt documentaries on the off-chance that I'll learn something, anything. But
there's nothing more torturous, more unintentionally sadistic than a romantic comedy that doesn't
work. Management certainly isn't the worst specimen I've encounteredthat honor
probably goes to the miscarried Baby on Boardbut it tugs at the heartstrings with all the
finesse of a ham-fisted harpist, and overall it's about as bland and undistinguished as a painting in a
cut-rate motel room.
She doesn't know he's there...kissing her forehead...naked.
Mike (Steve Zahn) is the thirty-something night manager at the Kingman Motor Inn, the motel
owned by his loving but emotionally distant parents. Stuck in a constipated existencesetting
out the continental breakfast, unplugging toilets, smoking like a chimneyMike goes a bit
overboard when traveling saleswoman Sue Claussen (Jeniffer Aniston) checks in for the night
while in town on business. In what has to be one of the most patently improbable scenes in rom-
com history, Mike carries a bottle of leftover Christmas champagne up to Sue's door, and when
he knocks she's surprised but actually lets him into her room. Discount motels are
unsettling enough as it is, and I'm pretty sure any sensible woman would slam the door in his
idiotically grinning face. The same exact thing happens the next night, but this time Sue lets Mike
touch her butt if he promises to leave her alone. Needless to say, it doesn't end at that
there's some hanky panky in the laundry roomand soon enough Mike is basically stalking her
cross-country, showing up a week later at the office park where she works in suburban Baltimore.
Except, it's not stalking because Zahn has such adorable puppy dog eyes.
Yes, it's more than a little implausible, especially considering Sue isn't at all weirded out by any of
this, but as the film wears on (and on, and on) the attempts at comedy get broader and the
creepiness subsides into plain old absurdity. At one point, Sue goes back to her former boyfriend
Django (a wasted Woody Harrelson), an ex-punk, dog-training, organic yogurt magnate. No, I'm
serious. Mike picks up her trail and follows her to Aberdeen, Washington, where he takes a job at
a Chinese restaurant. Then, instead of knocking on Django's door like a normal person, he
skydives into the punk's swimming pool, surprising Sue and inciting Django to pelt him with
pellets from an AK-47-shaped BB gun. It's over-the-top, unrealistic, and doesn't jive at all with
the film's previously established tone. The latter half of the film, then, goes completely
scatterbrained, as if first-time director Stephen Belber felt pressured to unload all of his wacky
ideas in one go. By the time Mike joins a monastery filled with volleyball-playing Buddhist monks,
the movie has effectively imploded into a black hole swirling with inane dialogue and unearned
emotion. I get it, they're going for a cutesy, quirky, indie-comedy vibecomplete with twee-pop
guitar and guy/girl harmonizing, a la Junobut Zahn and Aniston seem a little old for
this.
It's a shame, because I really like Steve Zahn. He's been relegated lately to mostly b-level
material, but whenever he gets a chance to tackle more dramatically hefty roles, like in Werner
Herzog's Rescue Dawn, he completely impresses. Here, he turns in a moderately funny
performance, despite some clumsy and poorly scripted dialogue. Chalk it up to his personality or
maybe just his faceI always thought he looks like a cross between Michael J. Fox and Viggo
Mortensenbut he's got that cuddly, comic best-friend thing down pat. I did appreciate that his
character is completely free of irony or sarcasm. Instead, he's a painfully honest man-child who, if
nothing else, makes a satisfying arc over the course of the narrative. On the other side, Aniston
once again plays wearily winsome, but though her ho-hum demeanor is precisely what the
character calls for, it doesn't exactly transfer into on-screen chemistry with Zahn. And therein lies
the rub. Management simply doesn't sell their relationship. You can throw in all the gags
and jokes you want, but if the romance side of a rom-com doesn't hold up, the A-frame
completely collapses.
Management's production value is evident in the film's dull look, but this 1080p/AVC-
encoded transfer ain't half bad. I'll say thisthe film looks miles better than the horrible box-art, on
which Steve Zahn and Jennifer Aniston's faces have been photoshopped into oblivion. Considering
the film's low-budget pedigree, the image is fairly sharp and detailed, showing fine texture work in
faces and a decent sense of overall clarity. Just check out the crisp delineation of the lines on
Aniston's corduroy coat. The lifeless color palette leaves a lot to be desired, however, and the image
rarely feels like it has any depth or presence. Black levels crush on occasion, particularly during the
scene in the country western bar, and at times the image has a slightly overheated, artificial
quality. You will notice some grain, mixed in with a little bit of noise, but there's nothing really
distracting about this transfer. Overall, the look isn't bad, just cheap.
I do have a few complaints about Management's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I don't
know who supervised the ADR sessions or the dialogue mix, but I noticed on several occasions a
sudden drop in volume while characters were speaking. Like, Steve Zahn would be mid-sentence,
and all of the sudden his voice would sound quieter than before. There's also a strange pop and
audio dropout at the 8:16 mark that muffles Jennifer Aniston's dialogue for a split second. It
actually threw me off a little, and it seems inexcusable for such a modern production. In all other
ways, the track is capable but unremarkable. Rear channels get some interaction via subtle
ambience, like chatter in a bar, rushing water by the riverside, and singing crickets, but the
surround speakers get the most play from bleeding musical cues, which also offer the track a few
chances to show off a decent dynamic range.
Commentary with Actor Steve Zahn and Director Stephen Belber
"As a first-time director, I had very little idea what I was doing," says Belber right off the bat, and
though he's somewhat joking, you'll probably agree if you've seen the film already. This
commentary track proves to be the highlight of the complete package, film included, as it
features Steve Zahn busting himself up near constantly.
Deleted Scenes (SD, 15:18 total)
Includes The Piano Lesson, Mike Gets Beat Up, Sex Advice From Barry, Mike and Jed Do Yoga,
Mike Does Coke, Punk Theory - Dog Demo, Mom's Ashes, and Josh Lucas - Local Porn
Star.
Gag Reel (SD, 12:41)
This must be some kind of world record for the longest, dullest gag reel in home video history.
Kind of fitting though.
Having dropped my complaints in the box addressed to Management, I don't have much
left to say. The film isn't tortureI managed a few mild chuckles over the durationbut it is
saccharine, dull, and tonally unfocused. Less discerning rom-com lovers may want to venture a
cautious rental, but I'd advise all others to stay away.
Image Entertainment has disclosed the release details for the movie 'Management', starring Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn, that will hit store shelves on Blu-ray on September 29. Bonus features will include an audio commentary with actor Steve Zahn and director ...
Image Entertainment has announced that it will release the Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy 'Management' on September 29, day-and-date with the DVD. The movie will be presented in 1.85:1 1080p AVC, accompanied by a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. No information ...
