L'employée du mois (2021)
40KL'employée du mois (2021). 1h 18m
“Itu0026#39;s hard to convey my level of disappointment (and disgust) when it comes to this perfectly dreadful movie. As one of the pictures I was most looking forward to seeing at the Gene Siskel Film Center Chicago European Union Film Festival, I walked out thoroughly appalled by what I had just watched. What should have been a screwball dark comedy with a premise loosely based on elements from the classic workplace farce u0026quot;9 to 5u0026quot; (1980) and the long-running hit TV sitcom The Office somehow managed to find ways to completely miss the mark from start to finish. To begin with, as a picture thatu0026#39;s supposed to be a comedy, it simply wasnu0026#39;t funny, with virtually every bit failing to land. Then there was the pacing, which was far too laborious for a story that should have moved by at breakneck speed. But, perhaps most importantly, writer-director Véronique Jadin doesnu0026#39;t appear to have a handle on what distinguishes macabre humor from nasty, mean-spirited poor taste. I canu0026#39;t believe how many times during the picture I caught myself saying u0026quot;Thereu0026#39;s absolutely nothing funny about that.u0026quot; And, even if this production were meant to be a goofy, gory tale a la movies like u0026quot;Rawu0026quot; (2016) or u0026quot;The Columnistu0026quot; (u0026quot;De kuthoeru0026quot;) (2019), itu0026#39;s not nearly campy, creative or playfully over the top enough to be able to pull off that feat. Whatu0026#39;s more, the filmu0026#39;s attempts at making statements about equal pay, toxic masculinity and sexual harassment in the workplace are far too obvious and heavy-handed, expressing sentiments that virtually anyone save for those whou0026#39;ve spent years living in a cave should readily be able to recognize without being beaten over the head. Thankfully, the only saving grace here is the pictureu0026#39;s mercilessly short 1:18:00 runtime, but even that feels eons longer than it actually is. I suppose the most troubling thing I find about this offering, however, is that I actually heard audience members laughing during this travesty. It made me wonder about people these days and how they could possibly see the humor in any of this. Thereu0026#39;s a big difference between a deft touch and a sledgehammer approach, even in dark comedies, but the filmmaker apparently doesnu0026#39;t recognize it, and that shows in her work.”
