Once the process of chimes and grapes is complete, we get this other chime, which almost rivals them in resonance and fruitiness, the premiere of this film starring Sydney Sweeney, an unbeatable actress in jeans. There are other interests in “The Assistant”, … the adaptation of the worldwide bestselling novel by Freida McFaddeen, like the fight for the place that Sweeney maintains against Amanda Seyfried, and so openly that doubts arise about which of them is the owner of the jeans.
The plot is as colorful as these two actresses and deals with the relationship in a luxurious house between the newly hired housekeeper (Sweeney), the wife (Seyfried) and the husband (Brandon Sklenar). The director, Paul Feig, shapes his narrative around a fundamentally sordid and intriguing story and offers pills of information so that the viewer can entertain themselves by mulling over them and believe that they know where the story is going. In a few strokes, he reveals to us a little that in the past of the maid Sweeney there is a big problem for which she is on probation; also, that the character of Seyfried, the wife, has a very crossed thread which sometimes sparks, and presents the husband as a sensible man, with the patience of a saint and with enough abs to foresee that things are going to happen in this house and that the gardener (strange, strange) senses them as clearly as the spectator…
The plot and the bad omens are well balanced and the plot twist works, more or less towards the middle, which is the best part of the film and can be seen in the gestures of Sydney Sweeney and the face of Amanda Seyfried when she leaves the house, takes the car and upsets the plot and our predictions. A good twist which changes the genre of the film and which almost becomes a terrifying thriller.
Director Paul Feig, who directed this legendary series called “Mad Men”, gives a dubious taste in this “luxurious” house and in the wardrobe and customs of its rich inhabitants, which is confirmed with the two or three appearances of his mother-in-law, or of his mother, for whom the actress Elizabeth Perkins creates an embroidery that could be hung on the Christmas tree. And Freig takes advantage of the spaces, the tricks of the camera and the good physical skills of his protagonists so that the embers are always lit.
There are several ideas that the story of “The Assistant” launches, but the most obvious are centered on the role, or part, of the woman in a relationship, to the proverbial feminine solidarity since a room without a key is suspect, but with a key it is even more so. There are other ideas that are darker and more worthy of ridicule or fear, but the viewer will find them without us having to empty them here.
A good broth to start the year, full of aromas and flavors, with plenty of intrigue, a few scares and enough bad vibes to make its star, Sydney Sweeney (also a producer, with Amanda Seyfried), a topic of conversation on a subject other than this jeans advertising nonsense.
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