The Assistant

From a film making point of view this is fantastic. There's an eerie undertone throughout somehow making mundane daily activities look sinister. And there's an extensive use of center-framed God's-eye view shots that were stunning. But the pacing of this movie drags terribly because nothing on screen is engaging content-wise. I almost fell asleep in the middle and when I made it to the end, I was shocked that it was only 85 minutes. It was completely mismarketed as a thriller, the trailer even contained a quote using the word thriller but it is definitely not. The only thrilling thing I felt during this movie was when the credits rolled so I could leave the theater. But the ending left me confused about what I was supposed to take away. I feel like this movie is trying to say something about the toxic working environment that this women endures, but it totally falls short and comes across as empty.

I didn't know much about this film until mid last week. I ended up attending the show with a Q and A after the movie with writer and director, Kitty Green. Here is a filmmaker who I don't really know anything about but I was already a fan of Julia Garner. I really liked her on The Americans and knew she was going to blow up soon. She is fantastic in this minimalist performance about a timely and important issue that is ever present in modern times. The film shows the entire day of work of an assistant at an office of a powerful film executive. During her time there, she sees conspicuous activities and young females being brought into the office and given roles after they meet with her boss even during late hours. She starts to realize what is going on and the predatory behavior involved but must deal with being silenced and has to weigh up how important her job is to her. Julia Garner plays Jane, in her most fulfilled role to date. From the opening frame of the film this is a beautiful visual experience. The film is quiet at times as you watch Jane take care of daily activities in the office. You can put the clues together to find out what is going on in the office and how the women are being sexually exploited. The film never mentions it but this film was definitely inspired by the story of Harvey Weinstein. The breathy voice on the phone calls also is reminiscent of Weinstein. This film is so competently shot throughout the office. The way Garner emotes through her facial expressions truly tell the story of her internal struggle. The issue is timely and unfortunately something that occurs today. She has to be silenced because there are people that are more powerful than her who disregard her when she comes forward to speak up. This film kind of shows scenarios as to why it might be difficult for people to come forward when they witness something immoral. Garner is fantastic in this film. The Assistant is a fairly succinct film but immensely powerful in its depictions and is definitely one that has talking points. 7.5/10

I loved Jennifer Garner in Ozark and have been longing to watch her in a another movie. Unfortunately this was a movie that didn't do her justice. I was skeptical when i read the reviews about this film; however after watching it waiting for something to happen i have to agree with all the 1 ratings - this had to be the more boring film i have ever watched - and i have seen some real dogs, I will still wait for a film that demonstrates her talent ...

An important one that deals with office bullying and sexual harassment in the most quite way, it's eerie. Excellent performance by Julia Garner.

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.

The first 15minutes of the movie absolutely nothing happens. It's deader than the dead sea. But I stuck with the movie, thinking that it would eventually pick up or something interesting would happen or there would be like freeking aliens hidden somewhere or SOMETHING.... but none of that happened... it didn't pick up, nothing interesting happened, and there were no aliens... I don't hardly EVER say this, but... this movie wasted 90minutes of my life... I literally regret watching this movie, that's how needlessly time-wasting this movie is. And in the end, I honestly don't even know what the movie was about... LITERALLY nothing happened to bring this movie to a close... the girl still works at the company... her boss still does what he does... everything stays the same and nothing changed. I just don't get what the point of this movie was... The only reason why I'm not giving this movie a 1/10 is because the girl did some good acting, and it's not her fault that the movie sucks.

First Hit: There is no coincidence that this film is out during the Harvey Weinstein trial. This is a powerful film for numerous reasons. The most compelling aspect for me was that we never see the studio head, the person who has everyone in the story intimidated and contrite towards him. It is an essential and scary message. Another reason is that we are reading about Weinstein's trial in the newspaper for the past week, and he's been accused of doing just what this film is about. Then there is the way this film uses the unspoken issue about predatory sexual behavior to intimidate, coerce, and manipulate people. The story begins by following Jane (Julia Garner), assistant to the studio head, from her early morning ritual of leaving her apartment and going to the office in downtown New York City. Entering the office, she's the first one there. She prepares, prints, and distributes reports. Then she turns on the lights on the rest of the floor and goes to the boss's office to clean up after him. It includes picking up an earring, wiping crumbs and stuff on the desk, and tellingly, cleaning off stains that are on the couch, which we suspect to be from a sexual encounter. As the story moves on, other office workers arrive, they all carry an air of fear, afraid of doing something wrong, and we hear mumbled raised voices coming from behind the closed office door of the boss. Phone calls are taken, plans rearranged, people don't smile. Jane gets routed a call from the boss's wife, who complains that her credit cards won't work, gets angry at Jane's attempt to placate her, and hangs up. The boss calls Jane and yells at her. The audience barely hears the mumbled yelling on the phone call. Jane's response is to type an email to her boss stating that she is sorry and it will never happen again. This type of intimidation is the theme throughout the film. The climax of Jane's concern is when she escorts a "new assistant," Sienna (Kristine Froseth), to a posh hotel. Sienna tells Jane that she was waitressing in Boise, Idaho when the boss told her she should come to NYC and become one of his assistants. We then learn that the boss leaves the office to visit Sienna at the hotel. When Jane takes her concern that the boss is misbehaving to the head of Human Resources, she once again gets intimidated. Inappropriate sex by the boss is never said but implied, and, as a final insult, Jane is told, "she's not the boss's type." The way this film is shot, it almost feels voyeuristic. We don't see the boss. We only follow Jane. We carefully watch her actions, and all the conversations she has on the phone are muffled, barely audible. When the door is closed and the boss is yelling, we hear some of the swear words and when the boss is with a woman, we hear muffled laughter and other noises. Garner is phenomenal. The way she internalizes her fear, her sadness, and disdain is expressed to the audience with subtle mouth movements and very expressive eyes. Everyone else is strong in their roles, but their characters are minor and don't warrant a mention here. Kitty Green wrote and directed this excellent portrayal of intimidation and predatory sexual abuse. Overall: The impact of seeing this film stayed with me through the next day.

This was my life for 5 years in my 20s. Dreadful and boring; being treated like complete crap by anyone in positions of authority save a few people, being ignored, asked to smile more, dress more or less sexy, catcalled, and asked to do things that were morally wrong for myself. So I relate to this movie. Some may find it boring but if you've worked in a toxic environment whether your male or female you'll see similarities that aren't always picked up on. Brilliantly done.

Plain and simple - this movie will put you to sleep. This is not a fast paced movie. It drags and drags and drags. The most exciting parts of the movie - having a paper jam in the copier, watching a frozen dinner spin around the microwave, organizing paper clips and rubber bands in a desk drawer, I'm not exaggerating . There was no conversation, just chattering, hearing the chime from a text message, hearing an elevator door open. It seems like the story was based on a chauvinistic boss , who we never see, but was probably a jerk. But it didn't go anywhere. What did I learn from the movie - If your using the company's landline phone, you have to dial 9 1 then the number to make an outside call - Oh and how to use a speed dial. I honestly cannot see how anyone would actually enjoy watching this movie. It was less than 90 minutes long but it felt like you were watching the movie the whole day. Probably because it detailed the worker's routine from the time she started her work day until the time she finished. One reviewer wrote if you thought the movie was boring your missing the point. When I watch a movie, I'm hoping that it keeps my interest. This is the first time I paused a movie (several times) with the sole intent to see how much time was remaining in this snooze fest.

About the most boring movie of all time. No love, no laughter, no suspense. Simply a movie about the most miserable unimaginative people ever. Main star did a great job with what she had to work with......which was basically nothing. Even one that invested even a dollar in this movie can expect a loss.