Introduction
Get a Job is an American comedy film directed by Dylan Kidd in 2016. The film was written by Kyle Pennekamp and Scott Turpel and features popular actors like Miles Teller, Anna Kendrick, and Bryan Cranston; and other notable comedians such as Alison Brie, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Marcia Gay Harden. Their goal was to create a satire on the difficulties the workforce is facing for fresh graduates in the current economy.
The film was shot in 2012 but struggled with distribution for Get a Job received a limited release in 2016. The film explores the struggles that college graduates face in today’s world with the balancing act that is work and personal life, as well as meeting self-imposed expectations in today’s workforce. The film attempts to mix social commentary with a light-hearted touch of humor that is received rather poorly.
Plot Summary
The main character is Will Davis, a fresh graduate of the college who is an aspiring documentary filmmaker and is dating Jillian, a similarly driven young woman. Teller plays the role of Will Davis who, unlike his peers, believes in a future career that is fulfilling and financially rewarding.
However, Will’s landing a job at a specific company remains suspended as he can no longer find it. Will’s carefully laid plans no longer work, and he has to scramble to find a job. This new search leads him to a series of dead-end, mind-numbing corporate jobs that he finds so boring and uncreative.
In the meantime, Jillian easily finds a job, landing a corporate position , but is shocked by the the culture of the company and the corporate norms they expect her to follow. Both of them realize that the transition from college to work is neither effortless nor as fulfilling as they hoped.
At the same time, Will’s father, Roger Davis (Bryan Cranston), suffers a sudden layoff from a long-held position. This parallel storyline adds a different generational understanding of unemployment and jobs without a clear framework. In his fifties, Roger is trying to get a job, while Will and his friends are navigating job interviews, dead-end jobs, and cringeworthy networking.
Will’s closer friends are Charlie (Brandon T. Jackson), Luke (Nicholas Braun), and Ethan (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), all of whom are coping with some form of post graduation disillusionment. Charlie is a middle school teacher with a unique and unorthodox style. Luke is a budding entrepreneur in the tech startup scene. And Ethan is working on a questionable video app.
As the film progresses, the friends meet up on a weekly basis to vent, help each other’s goals, and sometimes, even celebrate the smallest of achievements. Eventually, through a winding journey, Will is able to find himself a job that is better suited for his skills. Will’s story sees him capturing a corporate video content producing job that incorporates some creativity, and his idealism through a balance of realism at the end of the film.
Characters and Performances
Miles Teller as Will Davis
Will is played by Tellerwho adds a very relatable personality to the character that most will associate with due to their Will’s anxiety around the ordeal of attempting to enter the job market. His character’s narration as well as his sharp wit and everyman persona help the film, as the story is at times quite with lackluster.
Anna Kendrick as Jillian Stewart
Kendrick plays Jillian with her signature blend of comedic brilliance and emotion. Her character embodies the over-achieving graduate who learns the hard way that ambition in the workplace often meets with exploitative practices and impossible workloads.
Bryan Cranston as Roger Davis
Cranston adds depth to the film as Will’s father. He reinforces the narrative about older workers and their increasing lack of opportunities, which, in turn, sustains the film’s light-hearted tone while adding an emotional touch.
Brandon T. Jackson, Nicholas Braun, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse
These actors, who play Will’s friends, add to the comic relief as they embody different forms of modern unemployment culture and the absurdity that surrounds it—ranging from entrepreneurial risk-taking to utter ridiculousness.
Alison Brie as Tanya, a seductive HR manager, and Marcia Gay Harden as the cold-hearted CEO of the recording company provides memorable corporate supporting roles that highlight office politics and corporate absurdity.
Themes and Commentary
- The Struggle of the Millennial Workforce
The film’s main focus deals with the obstacles that millennials confront in their attempt to find work. It portrays the gap that exists between the schooling done and the practical work available. It also reinforces the notion that a degree does not always translate to a decent job.
- Corporate Culture and Identity
The characters have to face the dehumanizing and disillusioning modern office life again and again. The film critiques the modern office system from pointless meetings and emails to micromanagers to the absence of creativity to a lack of divergent thinking.
- Intergenerational Unemployment
By including Roger’s storyline, the film expands on the idea of job insecurity not only being a young person’s problem. The character’s struggle to find work, even when he has decades of experience, mirrors the struggle many midlife workers face in a changing job market.
- Creativity vs. Practicality
Reel’s aspiration to become a filmmaker is at odds with the reality of paying bills and finding a consistent source of income. The film proposes that, for many people, career paths need to be navigated and revised multiple times before the right fit is found.
- Friendship and Support Systems
Despite everything, Will and his friends continue to share a strong friendship. Their shared mutual support sends the message that community is vital, especially during difficult transitions.
Direction and Style
Dylan Kidd, who directed Get a Job, used a broad comedic tone that diverges from the more nuanced indie work he did, like Roger Dodger. The film’s quick rhythm reflects the millennial mindset and is packed with quirky cutaways, digital effects, and musical montages. However, the mixed tone blends distractingly from the film’s themes.
The film’s visuals draw heavily from the digital era with the use of overlayed texts, split screens, and social media style graphics. While these elements are intended to contemporize the narrative, they, at times, feel overly used or forced.
Reception and Legacy
Critics labeled Get a Job as one of the most poorly done films of the year. Many felt the film did not give enough focus to the issues it brought up and rather relied on clichés and shallow humor to fill the screenplay. The long gap from production to release meant a lot of the film’s humor and scenarios would feel stale to audiences.
Regardless, some viewers did find the film relatable for its attempt to depict the reality of young adulthood and the job market. While the film did not offer many creative insights, characters enduring relatable struggles of trying to find a job during a recession did resonate with viewers in similar situations.
Though Get a Job lacked both critical acclaim and box office success, it is a modern comedy that attempts to capture the essence of a generational experience, no matter how flawed the execution might be.
Conclusion
Get a Job is a disjointed comedy that is rather uneven and tries to address the struggle millennials face when entering a challenging job market. The film attempts to blend workplace satire with heartfelt moments and generational commentary, but often loses focus.
Strong performances by Teller, Kendrick, and Cranston provide a solid foundation to the film, even when the script falters. Get a Job may not fully succeed as a sharp critique of modern society or as a laugh out loud comedy, but does offer hints of relatability for anyone who has searched for purpose, identity, and stability in life after graduation.
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