Management [Blu-ray]

Director: Stephen Belber, Eric Alan Edwards Stephen Belber

Overview

After a one-night fling, a motel manager (Steve Zahn) impulsively follows a small-time art dealer (Jennifer Aniston) across the country in this romantic comedy from playwright-turned-director Stephen Belber. Woody Harrelson co-stars as Aniston's wealthy boyfriend in the MGM production.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/21/2010
UPC:	0014381540659
Original Release:	2008
Rating:	R
Source:	RLJ ENTERTAINMENT, INC
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:33:00
Sales rank:	36,562

Special Features

Audio Commentary featuring Steve Zahn and Director Stephen Belber; ; Deleted Scenes and Gag Reel; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jennifer Aniston	Sue Claussen
Steve Zahn	Mike Cranshaw
Woody Harrelson	Jango
Fred Ward	Jerry
Margo Martindale	Trish
Katie O'Grady	Corporate Bliss Receptionist
Yolanda Suarez	Marissa
Kevin Heffernan	Jed
Don Stewart Burns	Businessman,Businessman
Kimberly Howard	Colleague
Collin Crowley	Wally
Gilberto Martin del Campo	Priest
Garfield Wedderburn	Bus Driver
Easy Dent	Barry
Tzi Ma	Truc Quoc
Joan Riordan	Mary
Yuqin Wang	Betty
Dominic Fumusa	Stan Ball
Robert Projansky	Homeless Man #1
Jerry Foster	Homeless Man #2
James Hiroyuki Liao	Al
Mark Boone Junior	Jack
Josh Lucas	Barry
Patrick Kwan	Buddhist Monk Ko Chun
Timothy Levine	Upset Bus Passenger
Michael J. Prosser	Dick #2
Brent Simon	Bar Patron
Mark Boone	Actor
Rob Simonsen	Composer
Mychael Danna	Composer

Technical Credits

Stephen Belber

Stephen Belber	Director,Screenwriter
Wyck Godfrey	Producer
Marty Bowen	Producer
Sidney Kimmel	Producer
Jennifer Aniston	Executive Producer,Producer
William Horberg	Executive Producer,Producer
Nan Morales	Executive Producer,Producer
Bruce Toll	Executive Producer,Producer
Jim Tauber	Executive Producer,Producer
Joseph Middleton	Casting
Tony Boggs	Stunts
Kai Shelton	Special Effects
Jordana Glick-Franzheim	Producer
Lana Veenker	Casting
Jonathan Harris	Casting
Lauren Dickey	Casting
Eric Alan Edwards	Director

Editorial Reviews

Management starts out with some promise. Faced with hotel night manager Mike's (Steve Zahn) desperate persistence, traveling saleswoman Sue (Jennifer Aniston) questions his pathetic M.O., he admits that it never works, and she (being impulsive only in her benevolence) charitably asks him, "What would constitute having it work?" It's not like we haven't seen a shaggy man-child character like Mike before. Zahn has even played one or two. He's good at it. And it's not really a big surprise that an uptight businesswoman like Sue would, in an uncharacteristically unguarded moment, throw caution to the wind and have a fling with Mike. Lovable losers like Mike, who somehow bed attractive and comparatively very successful women like Sue, are as plentiful as comedic protagonists in the age of Apatow. It's just that there's enough genuine creepy awkwardness and low-rent shabbiness in these early scenes to make one hope that something fresher than "boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-matures-nearly-imperceptibly, boy-gets-girl" is afoot. Sadly, Management is formulaic indie romantic comedy at its core. This means both good things (a decent soundtrack heavily featuring the New Pornographers and a hipster Asian sidekick, played here with much appreciated vitality by James Liao) and bad: Sue's straw-man ex is a former punk rocker-turned-yogurt magnate named Jango (Woody Harrelson). Other instances of strained quirkiness include Mike's training as a Buddhist monk and a scene where he skydives into Jango's swimming pool to get Sue's attention. Zahn is roughly charming and Aniston admirably uningratiating, so it's more palatable than it might have been. Still, it's a film that subjugates character to plot, so the only clear explanation as to why Sue's feelings for Mike change when they do has more to do with running time and Hollywood convention than with anything organic to the material.