Weekend movie-watching plans were altered when I realized after coming back home that the free screening of The Reader at the American Consulate was done last evening. It was not meant for July 18.
The Last Time (2006) - suitably snipped for family viewing - is what I watched last night. The script reminded me of Maugham’s writing – the anti-climax was crafted well, and the fictional organization reminded me of my previous company – for its focus on new technology, quarterly numbers, and training on selling styles.
Michael Keaton is the super salesman based in New York, working at a company that sells business machines and keeps his office going with his magical sales figures. A new business partner (Brendan Fraser) joins the organization. He is new to the city, is scheduled to get married, and is used to success – he was the super salesman at his previous organization.
Things don’t go as planned. Firstly, Fraser risks losing his job (and eventually does) - for he can’t make a single sale in the quarter. Then his fiancée gets romantically involved with Keaton – who loses his focus on work, and the sales figures for the office keep plummeting, leading to talks of the office being shut. Keaton offers to help Fraser with leads that only require the contract to be signed, but Fraser fails in getting even that done.
I had a hunch that this story wouldn’t end the predictable way when I watched the scene where Fraser introduces his fiancée to Keaton, and she seems totally at ease talking and interacting with the top performer – unlike what I expected from a newcomer to New York with a fiancé who is struggling at work.
You might enjoy the film better if you have had a flavour of sales, office politics, and your Achilles’ heel being exploited.
Take a look.
The Last Time (2006) - suitably snipped for family viewing - is what I watched last night. The script reminded me of Maugham’s writing – the anti-climax was crafted well, and the fictional organization reminded me of my previous company – for its focus on new technology, quarterly numbers, and training on selling styles.
Michael Keaton is the super salesman based in New York, working at a company that sells business machines and keeps his office going with his magical sales figures. A new business partner (Brendan Fraser) joins the organization. He is new to the city, is scheduled to get married, and is used to success – he was the super salesman at his previous organization.
Things don’t go as planned. Firstly, Fraser risks losing his job (and eventually does) - for he can’t make a single sale in the quarter. Then his fiancée gets romantically involved with Keaton – who loses his focus on work, and the sales figures for the office keep plummeting, leading to talks of the office being shut. Keaton offers to help Fraser with leads that only require the contract to be signed, but Fraser fails in getting even that done.
I had a hunch that this story wouldn’t end the predictable way when I watched the scene where Fraser introduces his fiancée to Keaton, and she seems totally at ease talking and interacting with the top performer – unlike what I expected from a newcomer to New York with a fiancé who is struggling at work.
You might enjoy the film better if you have had a flavour of sales, office politics, and your Achilles’ heel being exploited.
Take a look.
