Price Check
November. 16,2012 NRA middle aged, middle class, former music industry executive with a stay-at-home wife and son toils away at a supermarket chain. When a new high energy boss enters the company, she increases his fortunes and responsibilities while also creating tension in both his professional and personal life.
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Reviews
Load of rubbish!!
As Good As It Gets
Absolutely brilliant
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
I agree with the majority that this is not the best film, but not bad either. The problem with it was the slow start and slow middle part, but the final act was so good. When I was watching it, I did not think I would rate it decently. I changed my mind after seeing the final few minutes and how it all ended.The film focused on a middle class family man who is working in a supermarket chain. But this is particularly about him and his boss. After he declined the top position in the office to lead a stress free normal life, his new boss who gets close to him for his good character. That complicates him, between office and family. When a big opportunity knocks, followed by a roadblock, what happened after that was covered in the remaining narration.Basically, the whole film was concentrated between two plus one character and occasionally supporting cast. As the poster hint, it's not Parker Posey's film, she was only part of it and a famous name among the cast. Though, actors like Amt Schumer and others are in small roles. So the performances were good, with the decent storyline. This is not a famous film, I don't think many had seen it or heard of it. It was more like a television film, the quality wise, especially for the holiday season. I Think it can be watched once with a low expectation, particularly the comedy parts.6/10
You might've noticed that many of the negative reviews begin with something like "I'm a huge fan of Parker Posey, but I didn't like this movie." That can be expected because it's not a very typical role for Posey, and the film is nothing like the silly, fast-paced Christopher Guest comedies that earned her so many fans.With the DVD cover pumping up our expectations with quips like "Posey is hilarious in this!" it's hard not to be disappointed when you realize this is more of a drama than a comedy. True, she brings to the table the same lovable goofiness, as neurotic as Tina Fey on crack, but where it breaks from her typical roles is that her character "Susan" in this film can be a thoroughly reprehensible person, and this complex dichotomy forces us to take her character more seriously than her typical lovable nerd roles. Imagine a very lovable, innocent, quirky personality like, say, Sheldon on Big Bang Theory. But now make that character do some pretty rotten things like, say, kicking cute puppies. The love/hate dichotomy might freak you out. It will either scare off the Posey fans or draw them in with curiosity as it did me.If you remember the 80s sitcom Taxi and Danny Devito's odd character "Louie" the lovable scumbag who, if you were to meet in real life, wouldn't be worth the saliva to spit on him with, Posey gives us a similar feeling. Her character is the personification of everything that's wrong with corporate culture: sneaky, self-serving, without ethics, hypocritical and borderline depraved. Posey pulls it off brilliantly with her over-the-top quirkiness, and it may take you 30-45 minutes to figure out that she isn't really the "hero" of the story, she's more like a dark Mephisophelean force who is corrupting the good guy.Midway, the film takes a dark turn and after that we don't get many funny gags (or perhaps we do, but they suddenly aren't meant to be funny) because the story becomes tense. This challenging shift may lose some viewers, but it's ultimately what makes this a memorable film. Disguised as a quirky comedy, the film reveals itself to be an intimate look at the underbelly of human nature.There aren't many films I can compare this to, particularly not any blockbuster Hollywood productions. But if you've seen the Christina Ricci film "Pumpkin" (a satire about a snobby sorority chick who falls for a disabled kid), or the unknown gem "Great World of Sound" (a silly yet sobering flick about sleazy profiteers in the music industry), that'll give you an idea of what to expect in "Price Check". A more popular film I'm reminded of is "The Informant!" with Matt Damon playing a goofy character caught up in the dirty world of economic crimes (based on the true story of the Archer Daniels Midland price fixing scandal). None of these comedies will have you rolling with laughter, but perhaps better, they'll lead you on a whimsical tour of some heavy societal problems we face. One thing's for sure, if you like well-made, well-acted, oddball movies that defy categorization, "Price Check" is for you.
I saw the movie on Netflix while browsing randomly and quite enjoyed it. Pete Cozy is a good guy who seems to have made some compromises around his career (really wanting to pursue music) but settles for an average job and then enters Susan his new boss and things change. The movie depicts very well how money can be seductive and change you; you can't help but feel bad for Pete in the beginning and perhaps even relate with him at many levels (esp if you have struggled in an industry where it really is tough get a break) and eventually settled for a regular 9 to 5. Parker Rosey is a delight as the ruthless new Boss. The transition of Pete and his wife, the change that money brings to them is interesting to watch. How i wish the movie would have ended with Pete pursuing a career in music leading a humble lifestyle but indeed it is sad how some of the external factors in our lives can shape our choices I thought it ended sadly :(
I wasn't really sure what I thought of this movie until the day after I saw it - which for me is one hallmark of a great film. This is a movie that appears to be one thing, a cynical office comedy, but ultimately turns out to be something completely different, a much deeper and satisfying look at contemporary American life.When we first meet the Susan Felders, masterfully played by Parker Posey, we are tempted to see her as a larger than life and quite outrageous character. But by the end of the film, we get the clear realization that everything we've seen fits neatly within the prescribed limits of modern corporate norms.The story is a kind of coming of age story for the protagonist Pete Cozy, competently played by Eric Mabius. It's interesting to note that Pete's struggle to find his place in the world during his 30's illuminates a kind of extended adolescence that has become a standard part of modern adult culture.In many ways this movie reminds me of Up in the Air, which was one of my favorite films of 2009. It covers some of the same themes as that movie, but the characters are drawn with more subtlety here and the situations are more ordinary. Both films provide a commentary on modern American social structures with the corporation as the central gathering point. Whereas Up in the Air presented characters of mythical and almost melodramatic scope, here we see nitty-gritty scenes with very recognizable characters and motivations.All in all, a very nice film.