Spotswood

i bought this at a dollar store along with some other pretty good DVD double features,the efficiency expert and Eliza's horoscope which i have'nt seen yet.i took a look at the cast and said looks like a good movie.Anthony Hopkins,Russell crowe,Toni Collette,and Angela punch McGregor who i knew from the movie;the island 1980.anyway they send efficiency expert(Hopkins)out to a moccasin factory to check how its being run.and he gets to know all the workers and their lives and such. Russell crowe and Toni Collette both in early roles.Anthony Hopkins is a great actor and makes the movie interesting,its take on a small factory and the people that work there.but for a buck its a real bargain.as double features go sometimes one is good the other not too good,not always the case.but if you venture into a dollar store,look through the dollar dvds.you may find some good ones like i did. i give efficiency expert 8 out of 10.good movie.

I have just used this film to show the effects of a taylorist management style to my year 12 Business management students. Spotswood captures the problems involved in treating workers as just another resource to be exploited, very succinctly. I just loved the employees of this factory. They were all quite typical of Australians of this period, with names I haven't heard for years, like Wendy, Shirley and Cheryl! Their refusal to see the value in the efficiency improvements foisted upon them simply because they were so human, and needed to socialise neatly demonstrated just what is wrong with scientific management practice. I think this movie should be compulsory viewing for all Australians in view of the new industrial relations laws recently passed by the Howard government. Spotswood shows us just the type of community that we are losing as individualism becomes the dominant philosophy in society. In short spotswood neatly illustrated to my students concepts and theories that had been presented in class.

Although this film is about the upheavals in Australia in the 60s, it could easily be reset in the mid to late-2000s with the economic upheaval that the US has been having as well. Companies having a person coming in to re-evaluate what they are doing to find the efficiency leaks/breaks that are causing the company to lose more money than gain, based upon 3 rules that he tells later in the movie.

Anthony Hopkins was the bad guy just in 1991, a year before this movie, and he does the same in this film, but less than a resident evil that he did in the prior movie. You can see the struggles his character is having while playing the bad guy at the company and reporting to the head of the company changes that needs to be made. You almost feel sorry for Anthony Hopkin's character to have to make these life-changing decisions that affect so many other folks lives and livelihoods.

Seeing it now in 2014 (almost 25 years later), it's interesting seeing that Anthony Hopkins stays true to form to his classic Anthony Hopkins self. No disappointment there; how could anything go wrong seeing him in the movies?

BTW, their wardrobes are classic 60s and loved the lady in pink (from head to toe), even with the pink lipstick.

Who knew Hannibal Lector could be so subtly funny and filled with pathos. Hopkns turns in a marvelous role of the efficiency consultant who thinks nothing of recommending that half a work force be fired for better profits. Then he visits a down and out shoe company and meets his match in the Mendelshohn and Kurts characters and the rest of their workmates. Indeed, Kurts steals the film as the owner who lives back then and hopes that his efficiency expert can get him and his factory into the modern era, but does not expect it to be as brutal and painful as it is.

Kudos to all. If you want a droll comedy that gives remarkable insight into the human dilemma, rent this. You will not regret it. In closing, pay close attention to how Hopkins portrays a plethora of emotions with only his facial and non verbal reactions. He is a genius!

This movie, Spotswood (aka The Efficiency Expert) is a good movie. I can't say less or more on that one. I could say this gave a "boost" for one or more actors and actresses in this film. Russell Crowe (Gladiator, LA Confidential) played a quite different role as a snobbish two-faced brat, Kim Barry. Hopkins portrayed Mr. Wallace, and doesn't have quite the dialogue of Silence of the Lambs, but more facial expressions than words.

You will not regret watching this movie! Believe me. This happens to have a very excellent story line. I do believe though, that if this were a book, it would have been a bit better, since there was so much in the film that could have been described more accurately than in the movie.

Please take the time to sit down and watch this film. You never know- you could enjoy it!