On DVD: The Method

Directed By Marcelo Pineyro

Starring Carmelo Gomez, Adrianna Ozores

Seven people sit in a room. A bizarre series of tests will help them decide who survives in the end. The Method (aka El Metodo) is like a Spanish episode of Reality Television, except no one exerts themselves, there were no commercial breaks and none of them annoy me.

The Movie

A group of professionals vying for an executive position in the mysterious Dekia Corporation are locked in a board room (with occasional bathroom breaks) and forced to undergo a humiliating psychological process called the Gronholm Personnel Selection Method. They go through a series of tests, each leading to a vote to decide who can stay and who

will go on to the next test. Perhaps ‘forced to’ are the wrong words to use here. As is repeatedly explained to them, anyone can give up and leave any time they like. No one does.

The movie is based on the successful play The Gronholm Method and directed by Marcelo Pineyro. The screenplay written by Mateo Gil and Pineyro, both of whom are responsible for Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos)  which was later turned into the Tom Cruise movie Vanilla Sky. As in those films, some things are not as they seem, but very little. The true disturbing nature of the film is that people are exactly as they seem and will openly say or do anything to the other to get this job.

The film is mostly in Spanish with English subtitles. There are only eight major roles in the film and every actor gives an excellent performance. In the beginning, Carlos (Eduardo Noriego, who was also excellent as the lead in Abe Los Ojos) arrives to the almost full room and recognizes Nieves (Najwa Nimri who was also in the award-winning film Sex and Lucia) and they seem to have been more than just past business associates. Quickly, they form an unspoken alliance, voting together on the various selections. Everyone is asked to fill out paperwork that they seem to have filled out already. This may be the first of many tests that will escalate in intensity as the numbers of applicants diminish.  Via computer monitors, the group is given information about each candidate, including data they never provided, as they

make their choices or plan arguments to justify why they should remain. While these executives-to-be are toying with each other, riots regarding the World Bank are taking place outside. The city is being destroyed by people concerned with day to day economic survival while these seven well-to-do executives verbally destroy each other. Or is it six? Is one of them a corporate mole, working for Dekia and playing with them?

Each comes into this interview ready to be competitive and to do whatever it takes to get the job, but as weaknesses are exposed I found myself having sympathy for characters I didn’t think was possible when I first met them, like Ana and Enrique (played with subtle perfection by Adriana Ozores and Ernesto Alterio).  Noriega won an award for his performance, as did Carmelo Gomez as Julio, Pablo Echerri as Ricardo, Gil and Pineyro for screenplay adaptation and Pinero for director. Edward Fernandez gives an excellent performance as a sexist who is clearly not there to be liked. A shining star among this already excellent cast is Natalia Verbeke as the mysterious Montse.

The parallels to Reality TV cannot be ignored. Big Brother is mentioned in the movie, and playwright Jordi Galceran Ferrer admitted that he was inspired by watching The Apprentice.  However, the strong performances make up for this blatant copy of a concept that some of us watch every week and others are already sick of. According to the DVD case, one magazine has compared this to Glengarry Glen Ross and 12 Angry Men and I have to agree that the energy between these characters is very similar. However, this isn’t really a situation of showing what these characters are made of, but more of showing us that some of them aren’t as dark or as strong or as heartless as they think they are. We are left with the feeling that those who are sent away are the lucky ones.

The film is good. I will go as far as to say very good. Great? Well, it’s no 12 Angry Men. The script is clever but not brilliant. Other reviews referred to the humor found in the film and I didn’t see much of that here, but I wasn’t looking for a comedy and the lighter moments are often enough to catch our breath between the intense moments but not long enough for us to relax, keeping us on our toes as much as the characters are. The power in this film is a great ensemble cast, although it is a pity that some of the best performances are by people who don’t make it to the end of the film.

The Method has all the signs of being based on a play, as most of the action takes place in a single room. With these actors, a play setting would help us feel the intensity as we are trapped in the room with the performers. As a movie, however, we are too distant from the characters, and in the end I didn’t really care who got the job, because anyone I was really interested in had already went home. Still, the characters make the story and this is a film worth experiencing, especially if you’ve ever wished they made a creepy version of My Dinner With Andre.

7.5/10

The Video

I have no complaints with this widescreen presentation. I couldn’t describe the colors as vivid as we are presented mostly with office rooms, computer monitors and lots of dark suits, but the picture was clear and I had no problem reading the subtitles which appeared automatically when the movie was played.

8/10

The Audio

The 5.1 Surround Sound was adequate. There is no ambient music during the film and, since they spoke Spanish and I don’t, I can only say that the dialogue appeared to be clear and at no time did the sound seem to be muffled or staticy in any way.

8/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features

The aramay case was clear so a large picture can be seen when it is opened. I thought the case may have given away a couple of key points from the film, but nothing major that will spoil the ending for you. Extras include a trailer and three other previews that intrigues me so much that I went to the Palm Pictures web site to see what else they had available. The requisite ‘Making Of’ featurette is also subtitles, but was more about the cast telling us how great is was to work with everyone else on the film and very little about how the film was actually made.

5/10

Overall (Not an Average) 7.5/10

The Movie 7.5/10

The Video 8/10

The Audio 8/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 5/10

Overall (Not an Average) 7.5/10

-Fred Grimm