87 minute running time … this is playing off the Harvey Weinstein / Scott Rudin sociopathic-Jewish-movie-mogul-monster-with-a-casting-couch thing … one of the assistant’s many tasks is cleaning the cum stains / vaginal secretions off the casting couch and returning various lost objects such as earrings and hair ties to assorted rape victims … everything is implied, nothing is explicit, which is a clever approach … but anyway, what are we supposed to make of this? The young woman who plays the assistant has been in the role five weeks and one wonders why she even stayed five minutes! Harvey/Scott growling into the phone at her about how worthless she is, followed by an email flattering her, I mean, c’mon … yeah, sure, it’s a foot in the door to a Hollywood career, but after a half day with those assholes shouldn’t she be like, forget this!
It wasn’t badly made, I just thought the ethical dilemma presented was kind of stupid … obviously she should get the hell out of dodge at the first opportunity. Personal ambition can’t trump basic human decency, can it? John Farr recommended it and I didn’t hate it, I just wouldn’t recommend it myself.
Peter Debruge picks up on a major flaw that also rankled me: “… there’s no one for Jane to talk to about her mounting discomfort. This feels like a flaw in the film, since it denies the character much of a life or personality outside of the office, apart from two personal calls she makes that day, one placed to each of her parents.” I thought she should have called home and said, “Daddy, I work for a monster!”
