“The Good Boss”: a comedy with Javier Bardem that weighs labor relations

The best comedies are those that reflect the imbalance of human relationships with cartoonish accuracy. And The Good Boss does the same with social imbalances. More precisely, with the inequality that exists between Julio Blanco, the owner of the weighing factory, played by Javier Bardem, and his staff.

A week after the visit of the international certification representatives, a former employee camps outside the plant to demand his reinstatement, the production manager has a family crisis, and an intern arrives to move Blanco’s floor, who must resort to all his tricks to leave with him.

This is the synopsis of this adventurous comedy that won six Goya awards last February. Among them are “Best Film”, “Best Director” Fernando Leon de Araona, who also received “Best Screenplay” and “Best Actor” for Javier Bardem.

Laughter in variety

To describe the main character “Good Boss” We can resort to a comparison that he himself uses: he is the father of a large family, over which he must look after. And in many parts of the film, he is there because he cares about them and tries to find a solution to their problems. Although there is always the question of whether you are doing this for the benefit of them or your company.

In this sense, action Javier Bardem manages to convey this ambiguity. We are talking about a man in his sixties, whose tone of voice and gestures are reminiscent of a benevolent father, doing everything for the well-being of his subordinates, at least until the visit of certifiers.

But it is in Blanco’s interaction with the many characters that surround him that this comedy’s greatest success lies. Practitioner Liliana, played by the flawless Almudena Amor, will try to seduce him with a mixture of innocence and cockiness; while his childhood friend Miralles, played by Manolo Solo, abuses his closeness.

Other characters that add variety to the film are the goalkeeper Roman, who perhaps has the most humorous weight; old Fortuna, representing the dramatic side of the film; the fired José, who stubbornly barricades himself outside the factory; or the immigrant Khaled, who, despite his status as a foreigner, is not intimidated by his boss.

Tense Comedy

Two hours what does it take “Good Boss” they pass very quickly due to the diversity of the characters and how their different stories are distributed (unsurprisingly, the film also won the Goya Award for Best Editing).

The hand of Fernando León de Aranoa as writer and director is also evident in the variety of adventures and their respective (and unexpected) outcomes. And this is another strength of the film: it takes us from one place to another without rest, making us part of the dramatic tension that is created, which only humor can help to relax.

Eventually, “Good Boss” He makes us laugh, but without moving away from reality, without distorting it too much. Rather, it shows us the various aspects of labor relations with the uncertainty that any approach entails. This makes it a (very) human comedy.

EER 4×05 Series and movies we always come back to + our recommendations

Each of us has a series or a movie that we never get tired of watching. If we find that it is running, we leave it on or go to our favorite app and it becomes our “old good friend”. In this episode, we’re talking about those productions that don’t have breaks, as well as leaving you our recommendations, and then ending with Father’s Day recommendations (yes, we’ve recorded before, but you just listen).