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| The entire cast of Marcelo Piñeyro's The Method |
An unusual corporate thriller without any bloodshed, The Method is based on Jordi Galceran's (Dakota (1996)) play The Grönholm Method/El Mètode Grönholm (2003) written by Mateo Gil (The Sea Inside/Mar Adentro (2004), co-writer) and co-writer-director Marcelo Piñeyro (Burnt Money/Plata Quemada (2000)).
7 applicants for a top corporate job meet for an advanced, collective interview that unfolds unpredictably: Following the mysterious 'Grönholm Method', the 7 are set to decimate themselves in order for the winner of the job to be found.
Several scenes play out nicely, with fast, dramatic cutting, and an invitation to guess at hints and choose sides in a reality TV-like fashion. The acting is good, and the characters believable. Without being phenomenal, it is an exciting and highly entertaining film for the most part.
The third act regrettably fumbles some of the nice work, as The Method fizzes out in intrigues and melodrama. SPOILER The woman (Najwa Nimri (Room in Rome/Habitación en Roma (2010))), who seems obviously the most competent and intelligent of the applicants, suddenly gives up and offers her male counterpart (Eduardo Noriega (Beauty and the Beast/La belle et la Bête (2014))) the job. Then she leaves down the street that has been messed up by an angry anti-IMF mob earlier in the day, (and is now seemingly totally abandoned?)
The implication of this last image, and the recurring sounds of the protestors, are very vague. So vague, in fact, as to become an annoyance. Whether they are there to be a symbolic attack on capitalism for the entire movie, or mean something else entirely, perhaps a gender point I am missing, it is too unclear, and it also seems very irrelevant for the practical thriller plot that was built up before it.
Piñeyro does well in adapting this extremely dialog-heavy play to the screen without it feeling heavy or dousing to the senses.The Method mostly plays like an intelligent and unpredictable reality TV-inspired film with good acting and humor as key ingredients.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: 3.4 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.13 times the cost)
[The Method premiered 14 September (Toronto International Film Festival, Ontario) and runs 115 minutes. The film was quite successful in one of its 3 production countries Spain, where it made 2.9 mil. $ (85.3 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Argentina (another production country) with 0.3 mil. $ (8.8 %) and France with 0.1 mil. $ (2.9 %). The US was among the smallest of its 8 markets with a mere 7k $ gross (0.2 %) over the course of 2 weeks in 2 theaters.The film was nominated for 5 Goya Awards and won 2, for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Carmelo Gómez (Tiempo sin Aire (2015)) (the first character to leave in the film.)) Piñeyro returned with Las Viudas de los Jueves (2009). Noreiga returned in Che Guevara (2005), Nimri in Las Vidas de Celia (2006). The Method is fresh at 71 % with a 6.2/10 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Method?
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