bluesalt
Why this movie doesn't work is an interesting question. It kept my attention all the way through, and apparently I'm still thinking about it. Parker Posey is great in her usual style as Susan Felders, playing a charismatic but unstable corporate executive.Eric Mabius is Pete Cozy (Who sold out for a cozy life, get it?), our ostensible protagonist, he is mostly just a straight man for Posey. We're told over and over how he used to be in the music business, which made him happy, and now he has a corporate job which does not.Cozy's wife, Sara (Annie Parrisse) seems like an intelligent and loving woman, but in terms of dialogue her main concerns are buying a Volvo, getting pregnant, and not getting a job.There's some adultery, and some intrigue, the consequences don't really show up until the last 15 minutes and then they're resolved off-screen, leaving everything almost exactly where we started except for a lifestyle bump and additional child for Pete and Sara.What did it all mean? I don't know. Maybe there's such a thing as too much ambiguity for your characters.
Paul Keister
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.
gaelicguy
Price Check" is a very brave film. Its characters are not the most sympathetic and its message may be off putting to many in the audience. However the questions it raises and the inner conflict of its protagonist will resonate with viewers, particularly men, especially in the current zeitgeist. When we first meet Pete Cozy, (Eric Mabius) he is a happily married family man of modest means. His wife, Sarah (Annie Parisse) is a stay at home mom, and despite mounting debt, has a rather nonchalant attitude towards paying bills. Pete, who had worked in the music industry years before and loved what he did, is now responsible for looking after his family and works in marketing for a moribund supermarket chain in suburban New York City. Enter Susan Felders (Parker Posey) as textbook Type A personality, who is brought in to save the fledgling business. Susan is a foul mouthed termagant. She lives for her career, she belittles her staff mercilessly, and she is bombastic and thoroughly unpleasant. But she is a slave driver and is on a jihad to bolster sales and get the job done. However, she does take a particular shine to Pete, immediately doubles his salary, she is very impressed to learn that he was graduated from an Ivy League university. She drops by his house to meet his wife and, seemingly, shows her soft side when she meets the Cozy's toddler – an adorable blond boy, Henry (Finn Donoghue) who is very enthused about the upcoming Halloween party at his preschool. Susan asks Sarah if she could attend this event, much to Sarah's surprise. Sarah signs off on it and Susan finds the entire event charming - to the point that she demands that everyone in the office dress up in costume and initiates the staff's first Halloween party. Despite all of her treacle, in true Machiavellian fashion, Susan enlists Pete as her confidante. She asks his opinion on who should be made redundant and confers many important projects upon him. Pete is very conflicted in this role - he is very flattered and his salary is sweet, but, increasingly and, perhaps, inevitably, he is spending less time with his wife, who is very keen to have another child and his co- workers feel betrayed by him. It's all very Faustian, but Pete goes along with it, despite his misgivings. Susan and Pete travel to Los Angeles to make a presentation at a very key board meeting. In a scene reminiscent of Norma Desmond and Joe in "Sunset Boulevard," Susan buys Pete a very expensive suit and a $300 haircut. Nicely groomed and preened, Mr. Bennington, chairman of the board (Edward Hermann) is very impressed with this young man. Bennington asks Pete if he would consider pulling up stakes and moving to Los Angeles for an executive position. Susan, who feels entitled to this job, is wary, but that night, back at their hotel, Susan is drunk and pleads with Pete to make love to her. She says she wants to get pregnant and wants his seed. Pete, eventually, relents and the affair continues upon their return to New York. Sarah discovers what's happened, but doesn't confront her husband. Pete promises Bennington that his New York staff can get an important project done in six weeks, Susan is at her histrionic worst, it's Christmas and there's very little joy in the office. Susan, now convinced that Bennington will hire Pete, does a background check on him and discovers a secret from his past, fires him on the spot, ice water coursing through her veins. Shocked, Pete views this as an opportunity to follow his passion and return to the music business, but he burned his contacts and is at a complete loss, with Sarah, now pregnant, harangues him. As if by magic, an executive head hunter calls and offers Pete a great job with a fabulous salary and the family move to California, his wife, with new born baby and toddler, in tow, very happy, indeed. Pete is clearly unhappy despite his good fortune. The film is beautifully directed and written by Michael Walker ("Chasing Sleep" ) The cast are uniformly excellent. Eric Mabius's does an excellent job of conveying Pete's inner turmoil, trying to reconcile his family life, which is very important to him and the increasingly important role, thrust upon him, in the corporate world. Parker Posey is very good as Susan, the ultimate shrew – but her character is a bit one dimensional. She is the quintessential Dragon Lady, but the why and the wherefore of her character are never exposed and mores' the pity. Annie Parisse does a fine job, with what little she has and kudos to the supporting cast – especially to Edward Hermann as Bennington, in an honest, subtle and a very fine performance, Remy Auberjonois as Todd Kenner and special kudos to Josh Pais as Doug, numbers crunchers extraordinaries, who is luminous in a beautifully executed scene, when discussing his sex life with Pete. The issue of careerism is nothing new in modern fiction and film, but it is usually the woman who is the victim. Walker is a very brave director and writer, for here, Pete is the victim. The women in this film get EVERYTHING they want and neither Susan nor Sarah come off well here. Pete, does what responsible men do – he provides for his family, at the expense of his own happiness and passion. Feminists might despise "Price Check," but the message that the MAN in the family is, invariably, the breadwinner and all expectations and responsibilities fall to him is something we've not seen in films in recent years. Equal pay for women, when it is the man who brings home the bacon? Walker says, "The Emperor Has No Clothes."
