Javier Bardem knows how to play men with a charmingly evil demeanour, and in The Good Boss (El Buen Patrón) – which reunites the actor with his Loving Pablo director Fernando León de Aranoa – his confident walk and solid grey quaff of hair lend themselves to a disarming character who uses his good standing and comforting charisma as a type of seduction technique, something that allows his Blanco to help his employees as much as it does tie them to a certain owed debt to him and his company.
That company is Básculas Blanco, one of Spain’s leading manufacturers of professional-grade scales, led by Blanco with less of an iron fist and more of a silver tongue. Luring his staff before discarding them when they no longer serve his needs, he’s an unlikely villain who, as rounded by a stunning Bardem and León de Arano’s tight script, is painted with his own shades that make him easy to sympathise with, but not impossible to dislike all the same; these at-odds emotions working in harmony through the firing of recent employee José (Óscar de la Fuente) who stages a one-man protest out the front of the factory, with both characters earning our understanding regarding their fight for their own livelihoods.
There’s no irony lost on the fact that Blanco preaches morality and the value of work ethics to his staff – there’s even the words “effort”, “equilibrium” and “loyalty” painted in red on the warehouse walls – whilst making his own moves at their expense to remain the most powerful player in his game. The cracks in what has clearly been a smooth operation to this point start to show when childhood friend and production manager Miralles (Manolo Solo) stars to unravel at work, his own productivity disrupted by personal problems at home. Blanco plays the friendship card, acting as someone who takes care in Miralles’ well-being, but, as we learn, there’s a method to this guised sentiment.
Fittingly, Blanco’s own marriage and well-being is threatened with the arrival of Liliana (Almudena Amor), the daughter of a family friend and a fresh intern at Básculas Blanco, who similarly falls under Blanco’s charismatic spell, but refuses to be as easily discarded as so many of the other attractive interns that have come before her; her penultimate moment in the film deliciously furthering the metaphorical thematic of Blanco’s obsession over the correct balancing presentation of a scale sculpture outside his company that he insists needs to be in perfect alignment, suggesting its instability reflects on his standing within the company.
Though it’s clear that León de Arano is commenting on the change of gender roles within the workplace, as well as the state of politics within the employment force too, The Good Boss never feels like a film that’s heavy on its social discussion. It paints a familiar picture of masked doom working under a presence like Blanco, but with a dark wit and a sense of power shifting between the sexes, León de Arano provides a reason to laugh amongst the misfortune and hypocrisy.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The Good Boss is screening in Australian theatres from April 14th, 2022.
