User reviews

It would appear comforting that there are still companies out there that genuinely care about the welfare of their employees, treating them like members of a big, loving family. And that's the image that Blanco Scales tries to convey, one that's placed the organization in the running for a regional business award, one of many such honors it has received over the years. Making this possible is the company's owner, a kindly paternal sort who seems concerned about the well-being of his staff - that is, insofar as it affects the company's welfare. This approach, however, often leads to undue meddling in the lives of workers, so much so that the boss will go to almost any lengths to achieve his goals by way of his employees and their families, especially when it comes to reflecting the proper image he's trying to project, a practice ultimately fraught with troubling complications. Writer-director Fernando León de Aranoa's latest serves up a biting satire about the business world and the extremes to which businesses will go to present squeaky clean, politically correct portraits of themselves to an easily gullible public, tactfully burying the compromises and questionable tactics they often must do in realizing that goal. This offering is a perfect vehicle for Javier Bardem as the oily protagonist, playing the part with just the right amount of insincerity to be convincing without looking cartoonish, in a role backed by a superb ensemble of supporting characters. It's regrettable that the picture gets off to a painfully slow start during much of the first hour, but the film more than makes up for this shortcoming in the second half, turning wickedly funny and occasionally disquieting in the second half. Be patient with this one, giving it ample time to develop; you won't be disappointed with the payoff.

1) If you wanna enjoy this movie, lower your expectations, this is not 10/10 or 9/10.

2) It's probably a comedy/drama movie, not dark enough to be a dark comedy. You will laugh, there are some hilarious moments, but this is not a comedy. There are also some dramatic moments, but it's not a drama either.

There is a "light tone", some underlying social commentary, but you will enjoy this regardless your political ideology. If you want to watch a movie that declares war against capitalism, this is not your movie.

3) Bardem gets all of the praise, and he is indeed very good, however, every actor here does a good job.

4) It is a good movie to spent 2 hours. Not a "must watch". First 20 minutes are boring. As it progresses, it is becoming more interesting and the pacing keeps getting better. Don't look for something great, and you will enjoy it.

What makes for a Good Boss? Successful in business. Dedicated to the company. Loyal to his workers. At first glance Blanco (Javier Bardem) seems to check all the boxes and more. Blanco runs a respected corporation building weight scales. He's charming, handsome and loves to get up close and personal in all his affairs.

Writer-Director Fernando Leon de Aranoa sets in motion a fairly simple plotline. Blanco's company is up for a prestigious industry award. Within a few days, an official committee will be touring his factory and offices to see if they are worthy. As expected, over those days little fires start popping up: A disgruntled worker (Oscar de la Fuente) is laid off, a pretty new intern (Almudena Amor) catches Blanco's eye, his trusted Production chief (Manolo Solo) is letting his home issues affect his work etc. Etc..

At first, these seem like petty issues which Blanco can put out without much muss amounting to small nuisances on the way to the next prized plaque in his trophy case. De Aranoa's script and direction are sharp. Little details are cleverly dropped in at precisely the right moment. As they accumulate, the story becomes a sly, dark satire. Bardem's breezy charisma is clear and ever-present, but, the actor subtly reveals a more steely side. The supporting cast is strong with Zeltia Montes' score boosting them along for the ride.

In the end the cynical capitalist message is that to be a truly 'Good Boss' one only has to think about what benefits only a single person no matter how large the corporation: YOU.

THE GOOD BOSS was last year's official Best International Film Oscar submission by Spain somewhat controversially edging out Almodovar's excellent PARALLEL MOTHERS. Both are really fine movies that are certainly worth seeing.

By Maryam Tavatav (Critic)

Directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa, "The Good Boss", as the representative of Spanish cinema at the 2021 Academy Awards, explores societies based on political-economic and capitalist systems and narrates becoming the number one in the workplace at any cost.

Blanco is the owner of a factory of industrial scales. This mere choice of scales connoting justice begins the chain of symbolism in this film. Throughout his speeches and interaction with others, Blanco manifests himself at the beginning of the story, as a compassionate, sympathetic boss who is willing to do anything for his factory workers. He keeps retelling this key phrase: "Every employee's problem is mine" and this is a fallacious statement that has been repeated over and over again throughout the organization's history causing all workers to believe in its legitimacy. However, another truth emerges as the film proceeds.

The film's main plot is based on this question: beyond this technicolor of slogans the capitalists chant in support of the workers, is their true face as sympathetic and benevolent as they look before the public and media? It remains to be seen to what extent these pretender capitalists adhere to moral statements when a tiny margin of their capital is jeopardized. This view does not contradict the concept of capital since the circulation of capital in society will certainly bring about economic prosperity that might be beneficial to the people. Meanwhile, the main point is how this benefit is to be distributed. Do people share in the benefits as much as they have contributed to the generation of wealth?

What elements must be in place in this cycle to achieve a higher level of assets? At this point, the main conflict is created; where various economic and political schools have made an attempt to come up with an answer. The script of a good boss also brings to light the extent of adherence to principles that are challenged in the face of a financial crisis and where the interest of employees comes into play. Simply put, when a problem occurs at the heart of the factory, despite Blanco's pretentious conduct favoring the workers, the manpower becomes the means to add just one more award to the wall of the owner's house at any cost. This comedic nature of the film, in a dark setting, mocks Blanco's superficial view of the fate of his workers. The film's final scene illustrates framed awards, with writings such as "Justice", here and there on the factory's walls, while its atmosphere is still filled with corruption and inequality.

The Good Boss can be introduced as the most allegoric and figurative film of the year considering its abundant use of meaningful symbols. The irony depicted in the film regarding the sense of justice and benevolence demonstrates that the director's preoccupation is way beyond a mere worker-employer incompatibility in the workplace. Behind Blanco's apparent good-naturedness in the guise of a spiritual father lives another human being: a man enjoying inheritance who is willing to do anything to preserve his capital so that he can add a framed award to those of others on the walls of his factory, lest a single penny be deducted from its capital; He somewhat represents a capitalist society that is willing to crush everything under the boots of power for the sake of achieving its material goals. Herein, the power relations are predefined and the authority is exclusively in the hands of a few and the others may enjoy a marginal benefit out of their vast fortune through deceitfulness. In fact, the concept of meritocracy and effort is the overlooked component of such thinking.

The element of surprise, which seems to be missing in almost all films these days, is well implemented in this film. The first impression that Blanco leaves on the audience is one sympathetic boss who follows the recent concepts in management science and perceives his workforce as the capital of his factory, while in the second half of the film, his true character is revealed once Blanco is put in a situation that his interests are at stake.

The brilliant performance of "Javier Bardem" in the leading role of this film must not be neglected. He shows such a dramatic personality change in his role that the viewer fully understands the nuances of his characteristics; his acting thoroughly serves the film's purposes and helps advance the narrative. The presence of influential supporting roles and sub-characters has also contributed to the completion of this puzzle and created an effective flow of transformation. The Good Boss possesses a professional cast of actors who have done well in their roles. The use of symbols and attention to detail have played a major role in expressing the main concept and theme of the film, especially when the seeds planted earlier are harvested and these symbols are used in the ending.

This film is a fine example of how deep political-economic concepts, whose presence is a grave concern in human life, can be sharply criticized with the correct and principled use of humor and comedy. Fierce criticism of political and economic structures does not necessarily require the production of serious films; rather one can voice the most serious criticisms by making a comedy film and force the viewer to contemplate.

Fame and reputation is the priority of the boss with repeated spotlight shown on the wall of company awards. He takes huge pride and greatness of his achievements by indulging in all the fake commitments to his employees. They are not family, just resources to get things done. Last survey scene is so sarcastic with feminism, diversity and caring for elders in the company. All about balance. If not balanced, make it balanced. Like a bullet.

El buen patrón (The Good Boss) is a sarcastic and brilliant tragicomedy about power, work, human relationships, submission, infidelity, dignity, injustice, and balance. Masterly written & directed by Fernando León de Aranoa, with a stunning and brilliant performance by Javier Bardem, a stellar supporting cast and great music by Zeltia Montes (with a melody that you will hum afterwards), El buen patrón will make you laugh, cry, enjoy, and reflect on the balances and imbalances of the working life, marriage, and power. 10/10.

Javier Bardem performs the character of a seemingly likeable fatherly figure boss that is extremely twisted, rule-bending and immoral underneath, perfectly. Even though at times the script is incredibly cringe and hyperbolic, this satire successfully delivers the message of the limits that corruption and corporate world can make people reach. It is a comedy that you leave feeling more disturbed than a drama or a thriller.

I liked this rather off-beat examination of the owner of a Scale manufacturer whose every effort to calm the storms in his workplace in order to secure a major award sink him deeper and deeper into the drama of his workers and into more and more nefarious means to get what he wants - putting his thumb on the scale of his world to bring balance to it.

Bardem is likable as the father figure Boss who you know right away is not all he appears as his opening morale building speech to his employees is riddled with subtle hints on how they should behave when the judges come around. He feels very much like a kindly old mafia boss advising his crew not to screw up. You can sense the veiled threat in his sugary words.

The story is light enough that it doesn't get too dark, buoyed by a wonderfully peppy score that merrily zips us along with Bardem as he meddles in problem after problem - seemingly getting one under control as another crops up - all of them reaching a crescendo that leaves us almost rooting for Bardem to surmount the mess he's gotten himself into by the end.

Bardem views himself as The Good Boss and it's his willful blindness to the fact that he is NOT a good boss where the humor comes. Seeing his schemes blow up as he attempts to manipulate his workers lives and causing himself more and more problems along the way is delightful to watch.

So if you're into that kind of wry, almost macabre humor, then The Good Boss is an enjoyable way to spend 2 hours.

This movie manages to be both terrifically funny and very much down to earth at the same time. The story contains enough twists and turns expanding throughout an eventful week to keep you invested enough. But there comes Bardem and makes everything glorious just with his face and his amazingly expressive eyes. A great Spanish movie, I would dare to say it may be one of the finest of the year. Not to be missed!

Javier Bardem takes his time. He's all sweet talk, big hugs and grand gestures; the beloved company boss, a greying father figure to his devout worker family, dispensing sage advice to increase productivity, and poetic goodbyes to those who sadly, he must let go. It is a grand performance, equal in measures of velvety charm and cut-throat viciousness.

Running a scale company - someone has to make 'em - seems innocuous enough, but every business has its dark cloud lurking in a silver lining. In order to capture yet another business award for his busy trophy wall, Julio Blanco puts the squeeze on his obedient minions, gently releases workers because the numbers deem it, and swoops in on young female interns all too eager for some life lessons. Charmingly so.

A juicy role which gives Bardem plenty of flexibility to expertly morph his character to suit the situation, the boss is his. Unfortunately the film cannot quite keep up. What should be a burning thriller, climaxing in resolution of several riveting plot lines, augmented with biting comedic touches, fizzles. Falls flat it does.

Social satire deserves more bite. This appetizer needs a better main course. Still, Bardem is excellent, and as usual, well worth the see.

• hipCRANK.

I watched it because I'd watch Bardem in anything, and also because somebody told me it was a good comedy, and indeed it is, but nothing more than that. It's a social comedy in a factory and there are funny lines and situations here and there, without it being a big laugh. You can sense there is a political/social message underlying, and it's not forced too heavily on the viewer. It's quite subtle. It's just that the whole of it is mildly interesting at best. There's no mise-en-scene work to speak of.

As for Bardem, it's a very good performance, deep-voiced, introspective at times. It's not too heavily satirical, but it's an annoying character by nature.

This is what I would have imagined Ford to be, the kind of guy that talks about family, helps everyone, with everyone too afraid to say anything because he has too much power over their life (their job, their family...). A nice guy in surface that you wouldn't want to be too close to. Javier Bardem is amazing in it, no doubt about this, in a role we are really not used to see him in. He lets this nice guy image linger enough that you wonder if he is genuinely good until his first mistake, and then everything gets worse, little by little. Do not watch it if you don't want to see what's wrong with the world.

Spanish film farce on the foundation of employee relations in a medium-sized weighing company. The owner and the head of the enterprise is trying to recognize his company as a leader in the region and is waiting for the visit of the competition committee. However, there are dissatisfied, former employees willing to prevent him from trying to win the race for business honors. Others have problems with adolescent offspring and seek the help of the director. An instructive story of a patron who engages in interventions in the lives of many of his subordinates, including a young intern - a talented, fresh graduate of an economic university, but also the daughter of close friends from industrial circles. An exceptionally cunning person gives an experienced man a lesson in the consequences that await men who are easily affected by momentary emotions, despite their position, practice and sophistication. Were it not for the compelling performance of Javier Bardem, a comedy with an average amount of sense of humor from the Iberian Peninsula would not have aroused particular interest.

It's impossible to understand what Javier Bardem is saying. He doesn't modulate. And this always happens on his movies. I don't understand how can a director allows this horrible mistake.

Rather than that, the movie is well done.

Spain's official entry to 2022's Oscars is so beautiful. It's light and funny yet so powerful. The screenplay is amazing. In a nice simple sarcastic way it tackles interesting topics like work environment and power. Javier Bardem gives an excellent Oscar-worthy performance, he's been getting many nominations for his role in Being The Ricardos but his performance in this film is even better, he should get nominated for both roles.

Entertaining, but not a high flyer. Against expectations, it was more Spanish /latin than universally applicable.

Acting was good, the cuts by day very sudden, as if it were a sum of fragments instead of a movie.

The writing of the dialogue is terrific. Every carefully-scripted word and situation is loaded with bad blood, mercilessly shelling out the miseries of labor relations in Spain. Bardem's performance as a paternalistic and cronyistic businessman is superlative. A necessary condition to fully enjoy the film, since everything revolves around him. A tad slow development of the story notwithstanding (stylistically justified around a metaphor of balancing the scales?), we are in for a ride.

In "El buen patron" / "The good boss" Julio Blanco (Javier Bardem) is the CEO of a company producing industrial scales. His company has been nominated for an award of excellence. Julio wants to win this award very much, as is obvious from a speech he gives to the employees at the beginning of the movie. In this speech Blanco often uses the word "family" and seldom uses the word "employee".

Quickly the question rises how sincere this familiarity really is?

At first Blanco seems really interested. He supports an employee with marital problems.

However, cracks soon begin to appear in this mask of friendliness. Traces of opportunism and manipulation appear. Loyalty is expected but not given ("I hate to take this decision, but I have no choice").

The unmasking of Blanco is however (and this is a great compliment for the performamce of Javier Bardem) not 100%. There remains a part of sincerity that gives the character a touch of subtlety. In one review a comparison was made with the character of Michael (Al Pacino) in "The Godfather, part II" (1974, Francis Ford Coppola). Michael howver changes over time from a nice guy to a monster. Blanco is a nice guy and a monster at the same time, the film dissecting his two different faces mercilessly.

While lead actor Javier Bardem gives (as indicated above) a very subtle performance, the film as whole misses this subtlety. It seems as if the director was afraid to choose between an all out comedy and an ironic social drama, accepting the danger in the last mentioned genre that some viewers would overlook some subtle jokes.

As it is some elements of the film are in my opinion over the top, most notably the one night stand between Blanco and a young intern. I do not mean that a character like Blanco would not be capable of such an affair, but he certainly would do it more diplomatic.

Being a factory in scales, an old model of a scale is shown at the entrance of the building. Much to the annoyance of Blanco this model is out of balance during the whole film. Figuratively speaking the same can be said about the film itself. The only one who is in perfect balance is (the performance of) Javier Bardem.

Loved the story and the main character Javier Bardem who played so well the boss, he made the story so real. Fully played in Spanish reminds us also that there are great actors in Europe and not always dominated by Hollywood crap. In fact it can be a real life story of what can happen to a company, it's employees and management.

Bravo to all the actors and I particularly loved all the twist of subtil comedy, it was really well thought of.

Maybe my expectations regarding this movie were too high...the truth is that I was pretty dissapointed with it.

It is, by no means, an award deserving movie, yet it won a few, including the Spanish Goya.

The story is predictable and full of cliches, and it would have been relevant maybe 30 years ago, but in 2022 feels dated and out of touch with the current problems in the work world.

Abuse of power, infidelity, crooked bosses, loving unsuspecting wife... the story meanders among many subjects (none specially engaging or interesting enough) without finding its tone.

Most of what happens onscreen feel forced and sometimes, outright ludicrous (Bardem, specially with his aging makeup, is way past his hearthrob years, which makes his affaire with a much younger, and pretty, girl quite improbable); while some subplots add nothing to the whole (Miralles' wife infidelity).

Bardem is never bad, but lately his performances are quite the same and unremarkable, and this one is no exception.

I dare say he is even outshined by some of his fellows (Celso Bugallo as Fortuna, gives a restrained and superb performance as the faithfull employee, as well as Oscar de la Fuente).

All in all, a mediocre movie, repetitive, outdated, and the worst of all, a little boring.

An engaging, well-made film which will keep me thinking for a long time.

To those who see it as a critique of capitalism, I would say that under all systems there are managers under pressure to use their power and charisma to get the best out of their workers, and who no doubt fall prey to certain temptations while doing so. The Soviet Union under Stalin gave factory managers extremely demanding targets, and the managers in turn used fixit-men to overcome shortages and get results.

To me, then, the film gives an insight into universal truths of human relationships, entertaining and gripping: well worth seeing.

I so enjoyed this movie.... A true lesson in the fact that all of our actions do have consequences. Javier Bardem (almost unrecognizable) leads a magnificent cast. I was glued to the screen from start to finish.