The Employer

I was quite enthusiastic of watching this movie when I learned of it. The plot reminded me heavily of a similar movie titled Exam. Thus, I was expecting a similarly thrilling emotional and psychological ride. I did not receive it.

While the movie was entertaining to watch, I could not be helped but be irritated by some of the most illogical actions the characters took given their seemingly high intelligence. Overall, I could pretty much guess what would happen next and the ending was very very disappointing. I could think of at least three different endings that would have been much more intriguing, plot-twisting and unexpected.

To sum up, entertaining for while it runs on the screen, but nothing mind-blowing and leaves you rather frustrated at the end.

Why does Malcolm McDowell keep doing these bad movies playing a cheesy cliché villain? He has acting chops and could do so much better. Most of the other actors are mediocre at best.

This movie is like a bad play with five actors stuck in one scene. This has been done so many times before and it has been proved to require outstanding talent to pull it off. The premise of this movie is just ridiculous. Even the special gore effects look really fake like a joke horror film. All I enjoyed in this movie was the good looks and body of Katerina Mikailenko.

This movie is the epitome of the idiotic Republican thinking (ruthless amoral selfish philosophy, and corporate scamming masquerading as "Capitalism") which has ruined this country. I just hope that its message was ridiculing and not extolling.

Another story about a group of strangers locked together in an enclosed space, hoping for a way out. In here, these five are job applicants; in the last step to join a powerful corporation, only one can leave the room with the job... and their life.

I really like this kind of film; it is always such a psychologically heavy concept, often accompanied by interesting twists and thought- provoking mindgames...

Unfortunately, 'The Employer' fails in that aspect.

The movie is too short and moves too fast to create the necessary tension in the room scenes, and the characters/actors are so bad they are unable to create any interest in the viewer. And it is far from just the actors' faults (though they have their share on it): the characters are horribly conceived and developed, their actions not making sense and being overly ruthless/psychopathic to the point of being unbelievable/almost cartoonish.

This makes the twists almost pointless and their impact almost nonexistent. The psychological aspect the film needed ends forgotten and ignored.

Malcolm McDowell is the only one to do a good job, and his character is quite fun to watch (though equally bad). A sharp contrast to the otherwise terribleness.

In the end, this film is far too moronic and badly made. It can't even pass as a idiotic, semi-gory thriller, as the anti-capitalistic stance the film seems to defend (considering the way they portray the big corporations) show they tried to make this have some kind of half-assed message. In other words, they actually believed this could be good.

I give it a 4 just because I love this concept, which made me try to like it, but in the end it could very well receive a lower rating. Much better choices would be 'Exam', 'La habitación de Fermat', and even the 'Cube' franchise.

This is the kind of movie I usually do not like. All the action in a closed frame, only dialogue, right, there are also four crimes, boring. But, the quality of the actors' play, I mean the five job candidates, all very natural, they pick up the film. Plus, Malcolm McDowell, "deadly serious" and very special talented. It is a little slow and predictable, even hard to believe that Keith Caverns (Michael DeLorenzo) can strangle with a tie the giant Mike Drake (Matthew Willig) or that Billie Lewis then kills Keith Caverns with her shoe heel. Except that, everything is like in life, I have seen with my own eyes such characters, in real life, in different working places, capable of anything for a job.

I just caught this movie and it was a powerful look at capitalism. The monologue by Malcolm McDowell at the end of the movie helps to deconstruct the basic ideals of the corporate world. Endure with this murderous tale filled with hopes of a peaceful escape, where the gore is aptly used for effect, stereotypes questioned and the interview process taken to a whole new level (while still being relateable to the actual job market). The variety of roles, the differing characteristics of the main five characters; all fitted in with flashbacks to show "how they got there?" and the overlooking McDowell.

With Billy Zane at the end, the use of music, good interview questions which foreshadow the coming violence and the simplicity of the characters and their lives help to fill out the 90 minutes extremely well. Watch it at night to help set the atmosphere, and for some reason reminded me of "Cube".

6/10 - got across what it set out to do with interesting shifts and entertaining, didn't try to do too much and built the characters slowly (but the interviewing flashbacks reveal future actions later in the movie).