The Assistant (2019)

Trailer was the most entertaining part of this drawn out boring, indulgent snorefest. I think I would rather pull my own teeth out without anasthetic than watch this excuse for a film.

Fmovies: Does that seem unfair? Cause technically a blockbuster is click bait, right!? Not really. It's obvious what this movie was trying to do and they delivered it in the most mundane way possible. Just like click bait, they lore you in with a topic you would enjoy but stretch out that topic till get gets boring. I'm sorry I wanted to like this movie and I'm most likely not woke enough to like this movie but it's made for a niche market to get and I feel like I'm not part of that niche.

I refuse to follow "the pack" on this one... I thought it was great. It manages to make the mundane incredibly tense. This is this first (semi-)fictional feature from documentary-maker Kitty Green.... and in my book she does a knock-out job.

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 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.

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-come-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)....

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.

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

The Assistant fmovies. I may be shallow but this is nothing more than a boring day in the boring life of a boring executive assistant. I think they picked the boring-est day ever. It might have been two days. It doesn't matter. It was so boring it might have been a week.

I normally don't write a movie review but seeing how many people gave this film a negative view, I thought I'd share my reaction.

As a young woman who's worked in the entertainment industry as an assistant, I could see my 20's in a nutshell. This story is the most honest, heart-wrenching and subtle movie I've seen in a long time. Everything the main protagonist Jane goes through, everything she was told, everything she endured, I personally went through at least once in my life.

If you thought this movie was boring, you completely missed the message. Just keep an open mind and give this beautifully made movie a chance.

First off I rarely review movies , but felt the need to post a warning. In 40 years of watching movies I've never given a movie 1 Star. The only redeeming part of this movie is that it had mercy for the viewers in that it ran under 90 minutes.

This was a movie about NOTHING! What a Disappointment. We really like Julia Garner in "Ozark", but she could'nt save this "Student Film"

The term "Casting Couch" has been around for ever. We all know about the Beast Harvey Weinstein . The Topic was broached more entertainingly in "The Morning Show" Don't listen to the critics reviews. Save your time for watching paint dry, grass grow or going through old tax info.

Don't say that you weren't warned!