The Good Boss

Name: The Good Boss
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: August 26, 2022
Duration: 116 min
Rating: 65
Cast: Almudena Amor, Celso Bugallo, Fernando Albizu, Francesc Orella, Javier Bardem

2022

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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7.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Cohen Media Group | Release Date: August 26, 2022 | Not Rated

Starring: Almudena Amor, Celso Bugallo, Fernando Albizu, Francesc Orella, Javier Bardem, Manolo Solo, Óscar de la Fuente, Rafa Castejón, Sonia Almarcha, Tarik Rmili

Summary: Básculas Blanco, a Spanish company producing industrial scales in a provincial Spanish town, awaits the imminent visit from a committee which holds its fate in their hands as to whether they merit a local Business Excellence award. Everything has to be perfect when the time comes. Working against the clock, the company’s proprietor, BlancoBásculas Blanco, a Spanish company producing industrial scales in a provincial Spanish town, awaits the imminent visit from a committee which holds its fate in their hands as to whether they merit a local Business Excellence award. Everything has to be perfect when the time comes. Working against the clock, the company’s proprietor, Blanco (Bardem) pulls out all the stops to address and resolve issues with his employees, crossing every imaginable line in the process.… Expand

Director: Fernando León de Aranoa

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 116 min

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Critic Reviews

Karen Gordon

Aug 25, 2022

Aranoa has pulled together an excellent cast. But holding it all together is the formidable and always watchable Bardem. His performance makes this satire also a character study. Read full review

Bilge Ebiri

Aug 26, 2022

It’s a perfect role for Bardem, who has always exuded a kind of natural authority and calm. Every line reading is measured without feeling rehearsed. (He’s a great performer, but that wonderfully solid, anvil-shaped profile of his helps, too. Plus, he gets to indulge his fondness for ridiculous wigs again.) Read full review

Kyle Smith

Aug 26, 2022

The film, instead of repeating clichés about the supposed heartlessness of the ruling class, could be viewed as either a barbed accusation of managerial hypocrisy from a working-class point of view or as an exasperated testimonial from a manager of how workers make it impossible to run a company like a family. Read full review

IndieWire Christian Blauvelt

Aug 25, 2022

A movie that isn’t quite sure what it’s saying, even as it mesmerizes you with Javier Bardem’s performance. Read full review

Amil Niazi

Aug 31, 2022

Bardem gives the kind of stately, anchoring performance that can just about make up for any shortcomings the film might otherwise face. Read full review

Jonathan Holland

Jul 25, 2022

Bardem’s performance, as a man who has spent a lifetime hiding his unethical behaviour behind the veneer of patrician affability and who seems to have lost his feel for what’s right and wrong, has a depth and complexity that seems to come from somewhere else. Read full review

David Jenkins

Jul 22, 2022

It’s a decently constructed piece of fluff that is way too soft to exert any real lasting impact. Yet the reason to see it is for Bardem’s masterful, completely committed lead turn. The real comedy gold comes from his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it expressions and mannerisms that usually come when he’s listening to other people talk. Read full review

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User Reviews

Brent_Marchant

Sep 4, 2022

It would appear comforting that there are still companies out there that genuinely care about the welfare of their employees, treating them like members of a big, loving family. And that’s the image that Blanco Scales tries to convey, one that’s placed the organization in the running for aIt would appear comforting that there are still companies out there that genuinely care about the welfare of their employees, treating them like members of a big, loving family. And that’s the image that Blanco Scales tries to convey, one that’s placed the organization in the running for a regional business award, one of many such honors it has received over the years. Making this possible is the company’s owner, a kindly paternal sort who seems concerned about the well-being of his staff – that is, insofar as it affects the company’s welfare. This approach, however, often leads to undue meddling in the lives of workers, so much so that the boss will go to almost any lengths to achieve his goals by way of his employees and their families, especially when it comes to reflecting the proper image he’s trying to project, a practice ultimately fraught with troubling complications. Writer-director Fernando León de Aranoa’s latest serves up a biting satire about the business world and the extremes to which businesses will go to present squeaky clean, politically correct portraits of themselves to an easily gullible public, tactfully burying the compromises and questionable tactics they often must do in realizing that goal. This offering is a perfect vehicle for Javier Bardem as the oily protagonist, playing the part with just the right amount of insincerity to be convincing without looking cartoonish, in a role backed by a superb ensemble of supporting characters. It’s regrettable that the picture gets off to a painfully slow start during much of the first hour, but the film more than makes up for this shortcoming in the second half, turning wickedly funny and occasionally disquieting in the second half. Be patient with this one, giving it ample time to develop; you won’t be disappointed with the payoff.… Expand

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Mauro_Lanari

Aug 26, 2022

(Mauro Lanari)
"Lashing" just for those who have never watched a Buñuel movie.

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