{"id":2617,"date":"2012-09-01T22:51:23","date_gmt":"2012-09-01T22:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=2617"},"modified":"2012-09-01T22:52:09","modified_gmt":"2012-09-01T22:52:09","slug":"compliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/compliance\/","title":{"rendered":"“Compliance”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dreama Walker as Becky being questioned by Sandra and Marti.<\/em><\/p>\n

COMPLIANCE,\u00a0\u00a0 film based on true events, written and directed by Craig Sobel, starring Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Philip Ettinger, and Pat Healy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 UNSPEAKABLE ACTS<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 By Gaetana Caldwell-Smith\u00a0<\/p>\n

The shocking, cringe-worthy film, \u201cCompliance,\u201d has the look of a cinema verit\u00e9<\/em> documentary.\u00a0 It takes place during winter in a small-town strip-mall fast-food restaurant with problems of spoiled food due to employee negligence and an illness related short-staff.\u00a0 Sandra (Ann Dowd), the manager, a stressed-out, heavy-set, middle-age woman, gets a phone call from a man saying that he\u2019s Police Officer Daniels (Pat Healy) who unfortunately can\u2019t take the time to go out there in person because he\u2019s very busy.\u00a0 He tells her that one of her customer\u2019s complained that an employee, Becky (Dreama Walker), stole money out of her purse an hour ago; she\u2019s with Daniels now along with Sandra\u2019s boss, the franchise owner.\u00a0 The mostly young staff is on edge as it is; Sandra has warned them that a company \u201csecret shopper\u201d is coming in to rate the place.<\/p>\n

When Daniels asks Sandra to take Becky into the break room and search her purse, you know something is not kosher.\u00a0 From merely rummaging through her purse, the search escalates incrementally, orchestrated by Daniels as the rest of the oblivious staff out front continues serving the steady stream of hungry customers.\u00a0 He cows and intimidates Sandra, flatters her so that she\u2019ll do anything he asks. \u00a0A foreshadowing scene occurs early in the film between Sandra and Becky so that when she takes his side, even referring to Becky as a thief, it rings true. \u00a0The cook, Kevin (Philip Ettinger) and a grizzled supplier (Matt Servitto) are the only ones who aren\u2019t fooled.\u00a0 Sensing things are not right, they make phone calls.<\/p>\n

The fact that the entire film is based on telephone dialogue neither constricts nor undermines the suspense and pace.\u00a0 Plus, the camera breaks it up with shots of customers chowing down in booths; rusted, greasy equipment, dirty dishwater, piles of discarded cartons and wrappers (Chef Ramsey would be appalled), and a parking lot rimmed with melting snow-drifts.\u00a0 Soon scene\u00a0will\u00a0segue to a bland-looking, early fortyish man in sweater and slacks, sitting in front of a littered desk, or making a sandwich, with a phone to his ear.<\/p>\n

Daniels threatens Becky with jail-time and fabricates drug deals, implicating her.\u00a0 Confused, she denies everything, protests his demands, and insists that she\u2019s innocent. He tells her frequently to calm down and insists that she address him as \u201csir\u201d or \u201cofficer.\u201d\u00a0 He ensures that there is only one person at a time in the room with her. Becky, who now sits naked, covered only by an apron, ends up allowing Sandra, her assistant, Marti (Ashley Atkinson), as well as Sandra\u2019s balding, sheepish, beer-drinking fianc\u00e9, Van (Bill Camp), to carry out Daniels\u2019 phone directed, step-by step searches tantamount to those perpetrated on prisoners suspected of concealing contraband in bodily orifices.\u00a0 Daniels rewards Van for conducting the most egregious search with a sex act by Becky.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You ask yourself why Sandra and the others allowed this to happen.\u00a0 People are conditioned through religion, education, and government to obey the law and not to question authority.\u00a0 The man spoke convincingly, repeatedly stating that he was an officer of the law, asking, \u201cDon\u2019t you want to do the right thing?\u201d \u201cHelp me out here,\u201d and \u201cThe sooner you do this, the sooner it\u2019ll all be over,\u201d interspersed with threats. \u00a0Also, he had done his homework on these people, knew their weaknesses and used the information to his advantage.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Can we use the message of the film to explain how tyrannical, imperialistic governments gain control of its citizens?\u00a0 How 100s of thousands of people are coerced into leaving their homes and boarding freight cars that will take them to their deaths?\u00a0 How millions of innocent people are driven from their lands, herded into reservations, or concentration camps as were Japanese citizens in California?\u00a0 Can it explain the exploitation of women?\u00a0 Minorities? \u00a0The undocumented, and so on?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though this cringe-inducing film takes place in the restaurant, mostly in the back room, it is not claustrophobic.\u00a0 The acting feels natural, you sense that these are real, hardworking people asked to carry out unspeakable acts on an innocent person.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dreama Walker as Becky being questioned by Sandra and Marti. COMPLIANCE,\u00a0\u00a0 film based on true events, written and directed by Craig Sobel, starring Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Philip Ettinger, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[837],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2617","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-joe-cillo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"