Short Film Review: “Managed”
Dir: Janaé Rachel Ballot
USA • Comedy • 11 Mins
After having an epiphany that his own relevance in the universe is entirely unimportant, hyper-sensitive twenty-year-old movie star Albert Harris publicly announces his retirement from the industry and fires his much put-upon manager via Twitter. His exasperated manager, Susanna Feinstein, wastes no time in finding a young Instagram influencer to fill the void and in doing so sparks a social media war.
Managed takes aim at the absurdity of the whole entertainment industry, neither the “talent” nor those operating behind the scene, pulling the strings are safe from the scrutiny of director Janaé Rachel Ballot’s funny and knowing script, which perfectly captures the narcissism of celebrity and the self-serving & fickle nature of talent management.
From Albert’s Shia LaBeouf-like breakdown, proclaiming that he’s no longer famous to the current trend of pumping out endless pandering superhero movies with photogenic but ultimately vacant and vacuous stars at the helm, the script pulls from many recognisable incidents but also fuses them with some sly, behind-closed-doors commentary and anecdotes
Director Janaé Rachel Ballot has brought together a brilliant pairing of actors in Devin Brochu and Savannah Ballot, who both work off each other perfectly and deliver some side-splitting one-liners. Devin Brochu gives a fantastic performance as the shallow actor who can’t make up his mind whether it suits his ego better to be a famous movie star and part of the glitterati or a famous victim of movie stardom and celebrity culture. Brochu’s portrayal of a very unaware, very privileged and successful actor is brilliantly observed and pitch-perfect in its execution, as is his British accent (kudos!).
Savannah Ballot too also does an amazing job as Albert’s long-suffering manager Susanna Feinstein and her funny, relatable and exasperated performance will get you on her side - momentarily at least. At times you certainly do feel manager Susanna Feinstein’s pain and can appreciate her exasperation with the star throwing it all away on a whim, but your sympathy for her only holds out for as long as it takes for her to find her new star-in-the-making, ready to exploit, confirming that she is indeed a massive part of the overall problem. Savannah Ballot does a fantastic job of finely balancing these aspects of her character.
Director Janaé Rachel Ballot conjures up a ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ vibe to both the performances and the on-the-fly, voyeuristic style of the filming. This coupled with the rapid-fire delivery of both performance and scenes, the film speeds along with frantic urgency, complementing Feinstein’s dilemma. Managed is essentially about the delicate relationship, fine balance and blurred lines between the ego, integrity and business of Holly-weird .
Satirising the cult of celebrity and those who enable it, Managed is a brilliantly observed film about Hollywood eating itself.
8/10
Managed was nominated for Best Comedy and Best Actor (for Devin Brochu) at our 2022 film festival.
Reviewed by Philip Pugh
