Management (2008)

A traveling art saleswoman tries to shake off a flaky motel manager who falls for her and won't leave her alone.

Director:

Stephen Belber

Writer:

Stephen Belber

Stars:

Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn, Margo Martindale

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Aniston	...	Sue
Steve Zahn	...	Mike
Margo Martindale	...	Trish
Fred Ward	...	Jerry
James Hiroyuki Liao	...	Al
Woody Harrelson	...	Jango
Katie O'Grady	...	Corporate Bliss Receptionist
Yolanda Suarez	...	Marissa
Kevin Heffernan	...	Jed
Don Burns	...	Businessman (as Don Stewart Burns)
Kimberly Howard	...	Colleague
Collin Crowley	...	Wally
Gilberto Martin del Campo	...	Priest
Mark Boone Junior	...	Jack (as Mark Boone Jr.)
Garfield Wedderburn	...	Bus Driver

Storyline

Mike works at his parents' motel in Kingman, population 27,000, on old Route 66. Sue sells art for a Baltimore firm to corporations for office walls. He takes one look at her from behind as she registers at the motel and determines to connect. He's sweet, but hapless, with no ambition other than spending time with her. She's enigmatic - rarely smiling, occasionally impulsive, committed to helping homeless people, feeling the clock tick after a breakup with a boyfriend who could have provided security. Is there any way he stands a chance with her? What can he offer?

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Plot Keywords:

motel | motel manager | buddhism | asian | interracial friendship | 

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Taglines:

A touching comedy

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Samuel Goldwyn Films [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

21 May 2009 (Israel)

Also Known As:

Management - Tunteet haltuun

Filming Locations:

Beaverton, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$375,916 (USA) (15 May 2009)

Gross:

$933,224 (USA) (31 July 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Temple Hill Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 93 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A Catholic priest in Portland, Oregon, received an invitation to read for a scene involving a priest, while filming occurred in that city. A Portland-based member of the casting department told him that writer/director Stephen Belber was unsatisfied with the readings and characterizations that auditioning actors had been giving for the very brief lines in the scene. The casting department told the priest they found him through a random Internet search, yet he happened to be a serious film buff (for instance, he has an IMDb account). He had even hoped that someday he might get a bit part as a priest in a film. But he declined the invitation to read for the part in Management, after seeing the script of the scene in question and learning more about the film's storyline and about some of its other content. A modified version of the scene - without a priest - is in the film.

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Goofs

Near the beginning of the movie Sue (Jennifer Aniston) is sitting in her hotel room on the bed looking down at the email screen on her laptop. The left-hand side of the screen shows there are 4 unread emails but there are actually 8 unread emails. The top right-hand corner of the screen says 'Viewing messages: 1 to 8 (8 total)' but there are actually 15 messages displayed.

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Quotes

Mike: What about kids? Do you want to have kids?
Sue Claussen: [avoiding the question] You know what was really great about that Yoga class?
Mike: ?
Sue Claussen: It was the breathing stuff. I don't do that.
Mike: Breathe?
Sue Claussen: There are days where I have to instruct my heart to request additional air
[takes a deep breath]
Sue Claussen: and I have to tell myself "Breathe, Sue. Just keep breathing."
[exhales]
Sue Claussen: Yes, I want kids.

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Connections

References Solitaire (1981)

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Soundtracks

"North Winds Blow"
Written by He Jingzhi, Ma Ke, Zhang Lu, Ding Yi, & Qu Wei
Performed by Guan Yunjie, Guo Lanying, Li Bo, Ya Jie, & Yu Fu
Courtesy of CRC Jianian Inc.

User Reviews

"Management" is a good judge of character

Mike (Steve Zahn) is a hapless young man stuck in Arizona; Sue (Jennifer Aniston) is a young career woman on the move all over the country. He thinks he has something special with her but she just views his actions as inappropriate.

Aniston's Sue comes across as mature and diplomatic—very different than Rachel and her other recent characters. While Steve Zahn's character was very well written. He's very awkward and inexperienced around women and his use of words shows that perfectly and humorously. He's also very observant and a good judge of character. These characteristics help him build a connection with Sue and move the film forward.

At times, the structure of the story drags the film down a bit. The beginning is about introducing the characters and the second half has a more active plot when we meet Sue's on-again, off-again, and on-again boyfriend Janga (Woody Harrelson) and Mike gets closer to sorting out his life. The two halves aren't connected as well as they could have been but there is a bit of subdued humour sprinkled throughout.

"Management" is just a romantic comedy, but it has better written humour than most in the genre and much better written characters. I recommend it for its cute performances by Aniston and Zahn and for the little bit of inspiration that such real and developed characters can provide.