The Employer

I've seen so many of these types of movies. Cube (also has 2 sequels) was one of the earlier good ones (where random people are stuck in various adjoining rooms with "puzzles to solve"). A more recent one that is better than Employer is Exam (2009) - rated 6.8 and with many great twists. Other similar movies involving people killing each other off in a "room" include: Devil 6.3 (2010) - people stuck in an elevator, The Killing Room 5.7(2009) - people in an scientific experiment, Unknown 6.5 (2006) - people stuck in a warehouse, Fermat's Room 6.6 (2007 - foreign language) - 4 mathematicians in a rm, The Method 7.3 (2005 - foreign language) - interview process Overall Cube (the first one) wins with 7.4 rating and oddly enough being the oldest (1997). Enjoy these movies if you like the genre.

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.

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.

Malcolm McDowell is widely known primarily for just two things, one being 'A clockwork orange' and the other being his unmistakable voice - practically the auditory equivalent of a sneer - that makes him perfect for particular roles, and villains above all. It's regrettable that in the latter part of his career McDowell has become rather pigeon-holed in that regard, being the go-to choice for anyone making a movie who is in need of an antagonist, with the result that the actor has found himself cast in a lot of schlock in, well, the past couple decades. That's not to say that Frank Merle's 'The employer' is totally rotten, but even from the very start it's very clearly a mixed bag, and it just doesn't have enough strength to pick itself up. I guess there are worse things you could watch, but nor is there any specific reason to check it out.

The writing wavers on a needlepoint of being blunt and unsubtle, yet carrying tinges of cleverness and nuance at some points and in some ways. Merle's direction, unfortunately, operates on a spectrum between heavy-handed and overcooked, and meek and undercooked. There are good ideas here, but even the characters are kind of stock material, templates that haven't been especially built upon in a meaningful way; illustrating the point, we can easily guess at the turn to come in how one is portrayed just because of how they are not given much focus early on - with the ultimate outcome of the competition being just as predictable. With the material being so weak, or at least not special, and Merle's direction hovering between insufficient and outright deficient, the cast struggle to make a mark. We know what McDowell is capable of at his best, and David Dastmalchian; I'm not familiar with Paige Howard, Michael DeLorenzo, Matthew Willig, or Katerina Mikailenko, but each illustrate a glimmer of skill (not served well by the feature) that tells me I'd like them elsewhere. Yet that's all we get from the cast here - a glimmer - and that's all 'The employer' at large really has to offer.

The stunts and effects are swell, sure, and I appreciate the production design, costume design, hair, and makeup. Though treated somewhat gawkily, there are obvious themes about the ruthlessness of capitalism and its most active participants; the scenario is barely an exaggeration at all as Merle correctly informs us, words unspoken, that the entirety of the economic system is evil and corrupt. And the foundation is here for what could have been a vibrant, exciting thriller. However, between the writing and direction? Well, to put it in Merle's own terms, 'The employer' could have been a vicious shark, but when all is said and done it's really just a meal, and at that one that is not really appetizing, let alone satisfying. It's not bad. It's just mostly much too meager to make itself count, and given the ideas underlying the premise, that's maybe even worse than if it had failed outright. Oh well.