Compliance
3/4
Starring: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp, Philip Ettinger, Ashlie Atkinson
Rated R for Language and Sexual Content/Nudity
The events that occur in this film are a matter of factual record (apart from names and locations, that is). That's a good thing, because no screenwriter could dream this stuff up.
The story begins at a fast food restaurant called ChickenWich. The store manager, Sandra (Dowd), is in a bit of trouble because someone didn't lock the freezer right and over $14,000 worth of food went bad. Even worse, a person who works at corporate might be coming to the restaurant posing as a customer to see if things are running right. That's when Sandra gets a call from an Officer Daniels (Healy) who says that a young blonde woman working for her has stolen money from a customer. Sandra thinks that the person the officer is talking about is Becky (Walker), a woman working up front who, as it happens is young and blonde. Because he isn't there yet, Officer Daniels asks Sandra to search for the money. She does, and none is found. Then things start to escalate.
It's impossible to talk about this film without mentioning the landmark study by behavioral scientist Stanley Milgram. For those of you who don't know, the study found that people are willing to do horrible things if an authority figure tells them to. That's what occurs here. What happens to Becky is rightfully described as a rape, although she is not the only victim. Sandra, her fiancee Van (Camp), and some other co-workers are also victims too. They were lied to and betrayed into doing things that they would never do on their own.
The acting is strong across the board, but perhaps a little too low-key. Ann Dowd, a character actress of mainly stage and independent fare, is good as the frumpy Sandra. She's a professional, and she acts like it. She's sympathetic to the plight of Becky, but she does what she has to. What's really interesting is that Sandra doesn't quietly obey Officer Daniel's orders. She doesn't want to do it, but she follows orders just to get it over with. Dreama Walker, who is one of the main characters in "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23," is also very good. Walker doesn't go for histrionics; to her, this is more of a bizarre annoyance than anything else (at least initially). The best performance goes to Pat Healy. Healy is excellent in the role of Officer Daniels. His voice is smooth and calming, and Daniels is a flatterer. He tells his victims that they're doing a good job, he knows that they don't like what they're doing, and so on. But more importantly, he tells them that they aren't going to be responsible for what happens because he's in charge.
The flaws with the film rely on the part of the director. Craig Zobel uses far too many close-ups and establishing shots and cutaways. Do we really need to spend two minutes looking at cooking oil? His style is self-indulgent and reeks of him trying to be "indie." It's enough to take a viewer out of the moment constantly, and decreases the amount of tension. Compare this to what Tim Roth did with "The War Zone" (a film that bears a remarkable similarity to this one), and you'll see my point.
Reportedly, many viewers walked out of "Compliance," disgusted by what they saw. That doesn't really surprise me. This is not an easy film to watch. I mean, how comfortable would you feel to watch a woman being sexually assaulted by proxy and having witnesses do nothing about it because they were told to do it?
Starring: Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp, Philip Ettinger, Ashlie Atkinson
Rated R for Language and Sexual Content/Nudity
The events that occur in this film are a matter of factual record (apart from names and locations, that is). That's a good thing, because no screenwriter could dream this stuff up.
The story begins at a fast food restaurant called ChickenWich. The store manager, Sandra (Dowd), is in a bit of trouble because someone didn't lock the freezer right and over $14,000 worth of food went bad. Even worse, a person who works at corporate might be coming to the restaurant posing as a customer to see if things are running right. That's when Sandra gets a call from an Officer Daniels (Healy) who says that a young blonde woman working for her has stolen money from a customer. Sandra thinks that the person the officer is talking about is Becky (Walker), a woman working up front who, as it happens is young and blonde. Because he isn't there yet, Officer Daniels asks Sandra to search for the money. She does, and none is found. Then things start to escalate.
It's impossible to talk about this film without mentioning the landmark study by behavioral scientist Stanley Milgram. For those of you who don't know, the study found that people are willing to do horrible things if an authority figure tells them to. That's what occurs here. What happens to Becky is rightfully described as a rape, although she is not the only victim. Sandra, her fiancee Van (Camp), and some other co-workers are also victims too. They were lied to and betrayed into doing things that they would never do on their own.
The acting is strong across the board, but perhaps a little too low-key. Ann Dowd, a character actress of mainly stage and independent fare, is good as the frumpy Sandra. She's a professional, and she acts like it. She's sympathetic to the plight of Becky, but she does what she has to. What's really interesting is that Sandra doesn't quietly obey Officer Daniel's orders. She doesn't want to do it, but she follows orders just to get it over with. Dreama Walker, who is one of the main characters in "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23," is also very good. Walker doesn't go for histrionics; to her, this is more of a bizarre annoyance than anything else (at least initially). The best performance goes to Pat Healy. Healy is excellent in the role of Officer Daniels. His voice is smooth and calming, and Daniels is a flatterer. He tells his victims that they're doing a good job, he knows that they don't like what they're doing, and so on. But more importantly, he tells them that they aren't going to be responsible for what happens because he's in charge.
The flaws with the film rely on the part of the director. Craig Zobel uses far too many close-ups and establishing shots and cutaways. Do we really need to spend two minutes looking at cooking oil? His style is self-indulgent and reeks of him trying to be "indie." It's enough to take a viewer out of the moment constantly, and decreases the amount of tension. Compare this to what Tim Roth did with "The War Zone" (a film that bears a remarkable similarity to this one), and you'll see my point.
Reportedly, many viewers walked out of "Compliance," disgusted by what they saw. That doesn't really surprise me. This is not an easy film to watch. I mean, how comfortable would you feel to watch a woman being sexually assaulted by proxy and having witnesses do nothing about it because they were told to do it?
Comments
Post a Comment