This is a hard film to rate, but I give it "7" of 10 overall for holding my interest. I had to watch the ending twice to fully understand what I saw. The DVD is fine, but being a 1994 movie it does not have 5-channel surround sound, and the extras are very limited. On the surface the story appears to be about Buddy. However, it is really about his assistant and the transformation he makes.
CAUTION -- SPOILERS FOLLOW --
This is a perfect role for Kevin Spacey as the executive who looks at every transaction as a "zero sum" exercise. Someone has to WIN, and someone has to LOSE, even though his personalized plate says "WIN-WIN". That is part of the satire. "Buddy" always wants to win, and his personal assistant is there for only reason -- to help him win.
The story is told in flashback form. Fairly early we see Buddy apparently held hostage by his abused assistant, and a series of flashbacks explain how he came to that state. Ultimately it was a phone call that early in the movie we only hear part of. Buddy had accidentally patched his assistant into a call which included the assistant's girlfriend, who on the phone agreed to go over to Buddy's place for sex.
Finally faced with Buddy tied up and bleeding in his chair, and his girlfriend standing nearby, Buddy insisting "do it, go ahead, you know what you have to do,", and we hear a gunshot followed by a blank screen.
Turns out he killed his girlfriend, Buddy corroborated a concocted story that the girlfriend was torturing him and the assistant shot her to save Buddy. As the movie ends, we see the equivalent of the assistant having sold his soul to the devil, who in this film is Buddy. He has REALLY become Buddy's servant, but has been promoted and is on his way to the top. Sacrificing everything he once held to be good and true, for fame and fortune in the movie business.
I must admit that it was pleasant to watch the assistant get revenge for the totally abusive way Buddy treated him, but the overall message, even though it is satire, is a difficult story to warm up to. Still, I suppose there are people in all businesses who sacrifice part or all of their values to get ahead in business. Come to think of it, I used to work with several of them!
If this film had been made with the same message, and had not relied so much on foul language throughout, I probably would have rated it 8 or 9. Resorting to only curse words to convey an emotion is the sign of weak script writing.
CAUTION -- SPOILERS FOLLOW --
This is a perfect role for Kevin Spacey as the executive who looks at every transaction as a "zero sum" exercise. Someone has to WIN, and someone has to LOSE, even though his personalized plate says "WIN-WIN". That is part of the satire. "Buddy" always wants to win, and his personal assistant is there for only reason -- to help him win.
The story is told in flashback form. Fairly early we see Buddy apparently held hostage by his abused assistant, and a series of flashbacks explain how he came to that state. Ultimately it was a phone call that early in the movie we only hear part of. Buddy had accidentally patched his assistant into a call which included the assistant's girlfriend, who on the phone agreed to go over to Buddy's place for sex.
Finally faced with Buddy tied up and bleeding in his chair, and his girlfriend standing nearby, Buddy insisting "do it, go ahead, you know what you have to do,", and we hear a gunshot followed by a blank screen.
Turns out he killed his girlfriend, Buddy corroborated a concocted story that the girlfriend was torturing him and the assistant shot her to save Buddy. As the movie ends, we see the equivalent of the assistant having sold his soul to the devil, who in this film is Buddy. He has REALLY become Buddy's servant, but has been promoted and is on his way to the top. Sacrificing everything he once held to be good and true, for fame and fortune in the movie business.
I must admit that it was pleasant to watch the assistant get revenge for the totally abusive way Buddy treated him, but the overall message, even though it is satire, is a difficult story to warm up to. Still, I suppose there are people in all businesses who sacrifice part or all of their values to get ahead in business. Come to think of it, I used to work with several of them!
If this film had been made with the same message, and had not relied so much on foul language throughout, I probably would have rated it 8 or 9. Resorting to only curse words to convey an emotion is the sign of weak script writing.