Steve Zahn and Jennifer Aniston are wire-crossed lovers in "Management" — a creepy romantic comedy about a traveling salesperson and the lonely motel manager who would do anything to be with her.
As night manager of his parents' motel in dusty Kingman, AZ, Mike (Zahn) doesn't really get out much. In his late 30s, no real prospects or responsibility, Mike is a bit of a goofy man-child. When the comely Sue (Aniston) checks in, Mike takes the opportunity to talk to her by bringing a bottle of wine ("compliments of the management") to her room. He is awkward, she is chilly. But he is fascinated by her poise (and her pert posterior) and she is momentarily charmed by his naivete.
When Sue heads home to Maryland after their brief encounter, Mike immediately resolves to follow her — unbidden — across the country. He even goes so far as to buy a one-way ticket, so certain he is that they are meant to be together. Understandably horrified when her travel fling shows up on her doorstep, Sue sends him packing. Mike takes this only as a momentary setback, setting in motion a full-court press of overzealous (and often inappropriate) wooing to win Sue's heart.
Sue is, as Mike's mother (Margo Martindale) points out to him, "a long shot." Yet, Mike will not give up on the off chance that Sue will relent. Like Sue, the audience will have to contend with an onslaught of adorableness from Zahn as he tries to wear down the object of his affections by increasingly elaborate means.
Zahn is an actor who has needed — and deserved — a starring vehicle for a long time (we'll just pretend "Strange Wilderness" never happened). Known for playing offbeat second-banana roles, Zahn has an endearing, boyish charm, impeccable delivery and the ability to play both comedic and dramatic roles with ease. The character of Mike in "Management" is fantastic fit for Zahn, but the material is beneath him. He's so endearing as the clueless manager, he may just give stalkers a good name — and therein lies the main problem. Stalking is not romantic. It's creepy.
As Sue, Aniston is also asked to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. Donning a mouse-brown wig and gabardine slacks, she plays Sue as an emotionally closed-off career woman, unsmiling and monotone. Yet, behind her tight grimace is a woman committed to the homeless, to recycling and to saving the world in general. It's a strange dichotomy of character that never quite makes sense, despite Aniston's admirable efforts to make it work.
Written and directed by Stephen Belber, "Management" never really figures out what kind of movie it should be. What starts as a quirky, subtly dark comedy about the lengths people will go to for love, quickly devolves into the realm of the wacky rom-com. With each new scheme of Mike's — and the addition of Sue's ex-punk, yogurt magnate boyfriend, Jango (Woody Harrelson) and a stoned Chinese waiter (James Liao) — the film unravels into Farrelly Brothers-level slapstick. Had Belber gone in either direction and stayed there, this stalker love story might have been an easier sell. As it is, it's like a night in a motel bed — lumpy, uncomfortable and not as fun as you thought it would be.
