'Sorry To Bother You' Is Sharp, Surreal And Brilliantly Biting

At present, the future isn’t looking all that bright, and if we examine the alternative universe in Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, the near future looks even less promising. Set in Oakland, Riley’s whimsically boisterous satire focuses on Cassius Green (excellently portrayed by Lakeith Stanfield). Broke and desperate, Cassius is living in his uncle Sergio’s (Terry Crews) garage, aimlessly trying to find his purpose in life. His activist/artist fiancée, Detroit (Tessa Thompson), seems content in her present circumstances -- making artwork, protesting the blistering effects of capitalism and taking various odd jobs for cash. However, with his uncle facing foreclosure on his home, Cassius is desperate to live a more robust and financially stable life. Lacking any discernable skills or passions, Cassius snags a job at RegalView Telemarking. Plopped down in a dark, suffocating basement, Cassius struggles to bring in his commission-based pay. Luckily, after getting some advice from a more seasoned co-worker named Langston (Danny Glover), Cassius’ luck at work begins to change. He quickly rises the ranks – eventually becoming a coveted Power Caller in the building's penthouse under Mr. Blank (Omari Hardwick). Sorry to Bother You might seem straightforward, but its magic lies in Riley's writing and the writer/director's confidence and ambition.

Sharp and surreal, Cassius is jolted into the homes of the people that he’s calling, and that’s just the beginning of Riley's asymmetric take on storytelling. Langston’s advice is the real kicker. He instructs Cassius to use his “white voice” to bring in sales. A “white voice" isn’t simply a high pitched tone infused with proper grammar; Arrested Development’s David Cross speaks for Cassius when he opens his mouth – it’s pretty insane.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Boots Riley And The Cast Of 'Sorry To Bother You' On The Bold, Whimsical Film (Sundance Interview)

There are plenty of films with commentary surrounding race, commodification, self-worth, and what it means to be normal. However, none of those films have been as strange, compelling and masterful as Boots Riley’s debut feature film; Sorry to Bother You. As Riley said bluntly in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, "I'm not good at sounding like somebody else or doing what someone else does." Starring the incredible Lakeith Stanfield as Cassius Green, the film follows a young Black man trying to find his purpose in life in an alternative version of Oakland. Living in his uncle’s (Terry Crews) garage, Cass finds solace in the arms of his artist, sign-twirling girlfriend Detroit (Tessa Thompson) who chooses activism over affluence.Desperate for more in life, Cass finds a job at telemarketing company where after receiving some advice from an older co-worker (Danny Glover) he quickly rises up the ranks. However, what he isn’t prepared for is what he’ll have to sell or how he'll have to sell out to stay at the top. Steven Yuen, Omari Hardwick, Armie Hammer and Jermaine Fowler also star.

At the MACRO Lounge presented by Shea Moisture at Sundance Film Festival, Riley, Thompson, Yeun and Crews lounged on a plush couch and discussed bringing this magical and shocking film to life. For Riley, who is a musician, activist, and poet, the idea for Sorry to Bother You was born out of the desire to break all the rules. “I read all the hack books like, How to Write a Script in 30 Days and What Not to Do When Writing Your Script," he recalled. “I read those purposely to figure out what rules I could play with. And, as I wrote those first few pages, I realized that that's not the way that I create normally. "

More than just creating a story on his own terms, Riley wasn’t interested in being confined to a certain genre. “A lot of times when people decide, even in music or film, that this thing I'm making is this genre, we edit along the lines of what we're told is the genre," Riley explained. “We leave out a lot of real things, a lot of real joys and pains and awkwardness and other ideas and we stick to this pretty formulated thing. If we're gonna truly make something that comes from artists that aren't usually able to get a voice, those artists have also had other experiences.”

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.