Trabajo mortal

Not Safe for Work (2014)

A straight up office building thriller. Yeah, like that's a genre already—well, it feels like it. Isn't that what "Die Hard" was? This one tones it down and it becomes practically believable. Almost too believable, so that it's a bit routine after awhile, even if you're still on the edge of your seat.

So imagine you're the last one to leave the office—almost last—and the elevators stop. And then you see someone with a gun, and the computers go nuts, and the lights flicker. So you have a nightmare, trapped, no way to contact help. Even your cellphone ends up, of course, in the hands of the bad guy.

And what a bad guy he is, a seemingly cool customer with no qualms killing anyone for any reason. What's a little blood when a pharmaceutical company has a lawsuit on the fritz? And so it goes, running through offices and hiding behind desks.

Can this last for a couple hours? Almost! It works on some level. It doesn't work on a lot of other levels, for sure, like caring very much about anyone. (This is where both Bruce Willis and the script of "Die Hard" have something special going on, whatever you think of that Hollywood blockbuster.) Here, you more or less know what's going to happen, and then by the end you are sure. But getting there isn't half bad. Half, at least.

There are so many tasteless crap big budget movies that not only do not entertain me but I can't even stomach watching them! Unbelievably they not only make into theaters but make money too!

With that in mind I give this film high marks for doing the job of entertaining me. It was not made up of a bunch of over the top special effects which in my opinion typically make a movie insultingly unbelievable to the point taking away from the entertainment value (with the exception of sci-fi when it actually be called for and needed)

This one was filled with suspense and had a reasonable level of action to go with the plot. It screams for a sequel but it sounds to me like it did not impress a lot of people so I am thinking it will be one more disappointment in that department joining a long list of other movies that were half told stories obviously written with the ideal that there should be MORE to come!

I am so disappointed with the crappy comedies and gore films that audiences seem to eat up (I am hoping these audiences are mainly adolescent/teens that just don't know any better yet?) ...because it so seems like the more moronic or over the top ridiculous something is, the more likely it is to financially succeed and spawn a parade of sequels that are even worse! trash franchise for the lowlife and teen audiences?

Well... I can not "beat em" but I certainly am not about to "join em" !

I think it deserves more than it's current rating of 5. This is a very tight, well directed & acted one-location thriller that can hold it's own against thrillers that had a much larger budget. The actors in this were all fantastic especially the two leads - "Tom" and the exceptionally creepy "hitman". I do love a well acted bad guy!! :) There isn't a lot to say about this flick. It has a fairly simple plot that isn't tremendously original but it's done so darn well it doesn't matter. Could have used a bit more action and maybe more character development but it's nevertheless well worth watching. Delightful! Far better than the eerily similar recent release "Free Fall"

Visibly low budget & minus wham-bam special effects, Not Safe For Work relies instead on acting and story. This is a very effective film.

Have you noticed how there is a new generation of worry, fear, threat concerning the power of corporations and big business in our collective lives? Most effectively, in Margin Call (10+), but elsewhere across a broad spectrum of movies US & otherwise. Not Safe For Work is a significant contribution to this contemporary genre: Don't Trust Business.

The two key male leads in this story are specially strong, most significantly the villain -- aka "The Killer" -- played by J. J. Feild, who exhibits a powerfully creepy calmness in voice and body language. His evil -- the banality of evil -- signifies the rot at work in the world of business itself. Max Minghella, playing the key office worker, has a true Jack Lemmon charm as the wily office schmo who's not such a looser after all.

This story happens to be about US business. But corporations & capitalism being what they are nowadays in our global, post-Cold War world; this business tale could be about China, Brazil, Germany, or Whathaveyou. Like a fine police procedural by Ed McBain, this plot is easily transferable to most other modern cultures.

Finally the fact that the heroes escape and yet do not (if you haven't seen it, I don't want to spoil the plot for you) shows how serious is its moral and political intent. Not Safe For Work is an intriguing incrimination. How can one escape from where business life is now? The answer is left deliciously hanging in Not Safe For Work. Yes, folks, we are unsafe. Try to find a way out. Just try.

The plot: On the day that he is fired, an idealistic paralegal witnesses a professional killer murder one of his former coworkers at a legal firm.

I guess the setup isn't too original, but that's fine with me. I'm always up for a thriller in which a witness is hunted down by a hit-man. The plot is vaguely topical, and it should appeal to those who rail against "big pharma". The setting is law firm engaged in legal action against a giant pharmaceutical company, and there is occasional commentary about corruption in the pharmaceutical industry.

There are a number of minor problems with the film, but I don't think any of them make it unwatchable. If you're more interested in entertainment value than originality, and you're forgiving of plot holes, I think you could do worse than this. The ending has received a bit of criticism here, but I thought it was perfectly fine. However, if you're the kind of person who wants every single plot element fully resolved, I can see how that would annoy you.

There isn't any gore, nudity, or excessively harsh language, and the violence is fairly restrained. There isn't really all that much atmosphere, but Mindhella and Feild do a decent job. For a direct-to-video thriller, I'd say it's about what you might be expecting: flawed but watchable, unoriginal but entertaining.