Must-see comedies, dramas and docs about the workplace that you can’t believe you’ve never seen or forgot you loved<\/b>
\nTopics:
9 to 5,
American Job,
bad boss,
Bartleby,
Canned Dreams,
Cheap & Out of Control,
Clerks,
Comedy,
documentary film,
Entertainment,
equity,
Fast,
Film,
In the Company of Men,
In the Pit,
Modern Times,
Movies,
office space,
Putney Swope,
Swimming with Sharks,
The Boss of It All,
The Devil Wears Prada,
Up in the Air,
Working Girl,
workplace, Entertainment News
For most folks, Labor Day is a day off of work. And while most folks who go to the movies often don\u2019 t want to be reminded of their jobs, there are some great features and documentaries that depict working environments.
Charlie Chaplin\u2019s \u201cModern Times\u201d may be the most classic film about work, but in contemporary times, \u201cOffice Space\u201d rivals \u201cClerks\u201d for the best comedy about the daily grind. In the category of \u201cbad boss\u201d movies, \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada, \u201d \u201cSwimming with Sharks, \u201d \u201cWorking Girl\u201d and \u201c9 to 5\u201d all feature employees getting the best of their superiors.
So here are ten lesser-known films about work and workplace environments that deserve the extra effort to be seen. From quirky comedies to fascinating documentaries, these films are entertaining and informative.
\u201cAmerican Job\u201d Chris Smith\u2019s terrific deadpan film (that plays like a documentary) has Randy Scott (Randy Russell) taking a lousy minimum-wage job in a plastics factory (Recall that line from \u201cThe Graduate\u201d?) . However, after he gets fired, he takes a series of jobs including a dishwasher at a fast food restaurant to motel housekeeper and telemarketer. Each employment opportunity provides mind numbing repetitive but skilled work for low pay, as well as a series of restless co-workers that are both amusing and irritating. \u201cAmerican Job\u201d was made years before Barbara Ehrenreich\u2019s landmark book, \u201cNickel and Dimed, \u201d and Mike Rowe\u2019s TV show \u201cDirty Jobs, \u201d but like those far more famous works, it shows the incredible efforts required to do menial tasks and the mindset of the people who do them.
\u201cBartleby\u201d Adapted from Herman Melville\u2019s story, \u201cBartleby the Scrivener, \u201d this offbeat comedy has the title character (a terrific Crispin Glover) answering, \u201cI would prefer not to\u201d when the Boss (David Paymer) asks him for help with something. Bartleby further explains that he has given up working. I could tell you more about this film, which is very good, and darkly comic, but I would prefer not to.
\u201cThe Boss of It All\u201d Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier\u2019s corporate comedy has vain Danish actor Kristoffer (Jens Albinus) posing as Svend, a non-existent IT company president, just so the business can be sold to Finnur (Fridrik Thor Fridriksson) , a frosty Icelander. However, a series of reversals delay the deal, allowing the staff to finally meet and interact with their \u201cboss, \u201d who has been unseen until now. Many of these encounters are funny; one employee punches Svend, others have sex with him, some have miscommunications. Nevertheless, when Kristoffer\u2019s ex-wife (Sofie Grabol) is introduced as Finnur\u2019s lawyer, this enjoyable film takes off with some fun twists involving who exactly is conning whom.
\u201cCanned Dreams\u201d This remarkable documentary takes viewers around the world to show ordinary people doing various jobs that ultimately produce a single product. There are Brazilian miners, Romanian men who work in a slaughterhouse, French workers on an assembly line, Italians and Portuguese working in fields, and more. What emerges is a shrewd commentary on globalization and how each country contributes to the product\u2019s end result. But more importantly, it is why these workers do these often-unpleasant jobs (the worst involve animal slaughter) : it is usually so their children can have a better life. As they recount their hopes and dreams, viewers will be empathetic. As the final shot reveals what everyone is working to create, viewers will reevaluate their thoughts about what is contained in that particular can.
\u201cFast, Cheap & Out of Control\u201d Errol Morris\u2019 documentary is about four men who all love what they do. Dave Hoover is a wild animal trainer; George Mendon\u00e7a is a topiary gardener; Ray Mendez is a mole rat specialist; and Rodney Brooks is a robot scientist. These men talk passionately about their work, the challenges of it, how they problem solve, and what they discover and have learned about human and animal natures, behaviors and rules. They have all found the best way to do what they do, but more importantly, they each find themselves in another social animal. Viewers can\u2019 t help but identify with one of the men, which is what makes \u201cFast, Cheap & Out of Control\u201d so universal.<\/p>\n

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