Written and Directed by Fernando León de Aranoa
Starring Javier Bardem, Almudena Amor, Manolo Solo, Óscar de la Fuente, Tarik Rmili and Celso Bugallo

Bosses. One way or another, almost all of us have one. Some are truly great. Some are just awful. Irrespective of their varying management capability, almost all bosses will invariably have one common denominator – the unwavering need to succeed. In some cases, at any cost.

A boss who fits that latter description disturbingly well is Blanco (Javier Bardem). Admittedly, it is an important time in Blanco’s career as the head of Blanco Scales, a company he inherited from his father who produce industrial scales. Blanco Scales has been selected as one of three candidates to win a prestigious award in the world of scales. It’s basically the Oscars of scales. As such, Blanco is more reliant than ever before on each and every person, process and product functioning and finishing as perfectly and promptly as can be. Part of his strategy for reaping the best out of each employee and having some form of control over any problems that might jeopardise their output is to make them feel like family and to reiterate that their problems are also his to help resolve. But Blanco’s strategies start to backfire at the most critical time when several issues arise simultaneously. 

As the mystery day a committee of members who will visit to assess and adjudicate the winner nears, Blanco’s problem-solving to-do list looks something like this:

– Remove a protesting and hugely disgruntled ex-employee from public land situated across from Blanco Scales after his recent redundancy from the company
– Help a long-time employee and close friend with his marriage breakdown, which is causing a heavy distraction at work and resulting in one major error occurring after another
– Try to resist the temptation of a young, attractive and flirtatious intern
– Manage the secret workplace affairs between staff that have just been revealed
– Keep an employee’s son out of trouble after a racially-motivated fight required police intervention

Each of these individual conundrums that add additional weight to a side of the scale Blanco is desperately trying to avoid are so cleverly concocted and thought-out. Having been subject myself to the fake sincerity of words and the false perception of genuine care from my boss, I thoroughly enjoyed the corporate satire applied all throughout The Good Boss. Right film, right time for sure!

The very expert and deliberate way Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem brings such likability to a terribly manipulative and ultimately downright horrible character is nothing short of extraordinary. Some of the facial expressions he pulls are both priceless and worth the price of admission alone! Even if some audience members are left to feel as though his character doesn’t quite get his just desserts, the fabulous twists involving that aforementioned intern and a dark open-ended final scene leave just the right taste on the palate. 

The Good Boss (El Buen Patrón) is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from April 14th.

Moviedoc thanks Sharmill Films for the invite to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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