The Assistant

Following on from the Harvey Weinstien scandal and other instances of sexual abuse and harrassment by the rich and powerful I'm sure movies like "The Assistant" are going to become more common place but I doubt if many of them will be this strange, this unsettling or indeed this good. Although fiction, "The Assistant" looks and feels like it could be a documentary and Kitty Green, whose first feature this is, does indeed come from a documentary background.

The assistant of the title, (a beautifully subdued Julia Garner), is a young woman employed in the New York office of a media mogul, not just as a kind of secretary, but as someone to clean up, (literally), the mess (literally), that her boss leaves behind and to take whatever verbal abuse he dishes out. She is safe, it would seem, from sexual harrasment because, as she's told, 'she's not his type'. The boss himself is never seen on screen.

This is a genuinely frightening film that goes beyond what has come to be known as the #MeToo Movement. It paints a horrifying picture of what powerful people can do to subordinates given the chance, (I know because I too worked with such people but I, at least, had the balls to stand up to them...and not get fired). What distinguishes Green's film is that she never over-dramatizes, (if anything, she holds back almost to the point of boredom), uses actors who are not well-known to us, (a magnificently obsequious Matthew Macfadyen is the best known person on screen), and films it, not as a clammy thriller, but as a fly-on-the-wall slice of life. There is none of the triumphalism of "Bombshell" on display here, just the chilly feeling that an unseen monster is lurking out of camera shot and destroying the lives of everyone around him.

Let's just say, that whoever did this, has experience when it comes to the life of an assistant. There is nothing fancy here and the ticks and tocks are subtle and not in your face. The life of an Assistant is not glamouros (in realityt that is and in the way it is depicted here) - this could easily be a documentary then.

So your patience is being tested in a way, one would say. The movie is interesting to some then and annoying to boring to others. Be aware to which group you belong and act accordingly (watch or don't that is)

This was my life for 5 years in my 20s. Dreadful and boring; being treated like complete crap by anyone in positions of authority save a few people, being ignored, asked to smile more, dress more or less sexy, catcalled, and asked to do things that were morally wrong for myself. So I relate to this movie. Some may find it boring but if you've worked in a toxic environment whether your male or female you'll see similarities that aren't always picked up on. Brilliantly done.

First off, this movie does make a number of thinly veiled references to Harvey Weinstein.

However, do not expect to see much of Harvey in this movie.

Do not expect a sort of 'Harvey Dearest' exploitation piece with wall-to-wall scenes of a movie executive who is obviously supposed to be Harvey Weinstein abusing and raping employees left and right.

Additionally, do not expect something along the lines of 'All the President's Men' or 'Erin Brockovich' in which a plucky young heroine brings down a powerful but very corrupt individual.

What you can expect is to see a very accurate depiction of a typical day of a typical employee amidst the silent chaos of someone like Harvey Weinstein's reign of terror.

Finally, you can expect a very competent answer to the question of exactly how individuals such as Weinstein and Bill Cosby got away with what they did for as long as they did.

I mean - didn't anyone know?

Well, The Assistant answers this question - with relentless presentation over exposition: they didn't get away with it because no one knew; they got away with it because EVERYONE knew. And anyone who has been witness to this sort of thing knows that's exactly how it happens. The behavior simply becomes part of every day life in the organization, and from thereon no one will say anything because the entire organization becomes an extension of the boss's behavior.

It's not a fun movie - but it is an honest one.

I can see why some viewers don't like this movie, there is no action, essentially no background music until the very end, and the focus is squarely on this young assistant who has been in the job for 5 weeks after graduating from a good college. Her ambition is to work her way into being a Producer.

Julia Garner, a New Yorker herself, is age-appropriate, was probably about 24 during filming, she is simply Jane. She calls home periodically, her parents tell her to get enough sleep, she is very diligent and professional, she gets to the office before daybreak and is often the last to leave. She gets sandwiches, makes copies, arranges flights and hotels, her work keeps the offices running. There is no frivolity.

Her awakening to the reality of things is when she goes in to make an anonymous concern, that sexual shenanigans might be going on even with the big boss, an unqualified girl from Idaho is hired and put up at a hotel, and basically finds out her job is to mind her own business if she wanted to keep her job.

It is easy to think this was inspired by Harvey Weinstein and his office, and maybe it was, but enough has come to light over the past few years to realize this is closer to the norm than it is to the exception. The story is less about the big boss taking advantage of pretty young girls, it is more about the culture and the widespread acceptance within the office that this is the norm. But one worker told her "Don't worry, you're not his type."

The story covers one long day but it gets its point across. Garner is superb in her role as Jane but we get no clue what might eventually happen for her. My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library. When it ended she asked "It's over?"