2018 comedy
Rating: 15/20
Plot: A day in the work lives of a general manager and some waitresses at a Hooters-esque sports bar by the highway.
My recollection of Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess, the only other movie I've seen by the director of this, is limited. I really only remember that I didn't get it. I looked him up on IMDb and saw his next projected. A CGI-remake of Lady and the Tramp? What a bad start to my Saturday at a little after noon.
This is a movie that is easy to get with characters who are identifiable and extremely likable. Bujalski clearly also has a love for this collective, and the ensemble cast does a good job creating personalities without creating too much personality. Rule number 1, after all, is "No drama," and if any of these characters would have gone too big, this wouldn't have worked. At the center of the everyday chaos in this slice-of-life sports bar 24-or-so hours is the general manager character. She's played by Regina Hall who balances all sorts of emotions without making anything obvious. It's a great performance, Hall giving her character just the rights amount of power and defeat to make her very natural, very real.
This is bookended with traffic ambiance and has a powerful and strangely uplifting final shot.
With its emphasis on female empowerment and camaraderie in the face of dickheadedness, this one might be a good one to put in a time capsule to represent 2018.
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