Watch The Method For Free

Such a frustrating disappointment

Highly Overrated But Still Good

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The world we live in, and the lives wasted. The insulated business high rise surrounded by anti-MMF protesters. Seven candidates and only one executive position. " The Method" is a brilliant satire on the crumbling, but blissfully unaware of it , world of big corporation mafia. Greed, naked ambition and an incredible lack of self-respect, and the belief that everything is for sale, just name the price. Seven smart, educated, successful professionals and who wins? First two eliminated are the two of the most stature and quality. But today world has no time for people like that. Principals might just get in a way of profit and the future of the company. Sickening and sad beyond words. Life, this short, fragile special gift wasted for little more than self-delusion and a bit of money. Oh, I forget, they call that progress.

There is something about films set more or less in a single room. There is nothing to distract from the subjects and when well done, the characters just grow on you. As part of my mission to learn Spanish, I've been poring over language books, newspapers and movies. The last of the lot is the most fun of all. El Método was a delightful surprise. A group of people face an unconventional selection process for a job. A mysterious "receptionist" lays some ground rules and it is very likely that all of them are being watched. At once a brilliant study of psychology and a edge-of-the-seat thriller, El Método is intelligent and, well, methodical. Having been disappointed with the psychological-thriller variety after Shutter Island and Black Swan, I am glad to have seen this.

It's the thought of the situation. The thought of being there in the same situation as the characters of "The Method" is what makes it so damn interesting, and nerve-wracking, and good. The rest is soup, as some may say. There are no new tricks being attempted here, no important message to be delivered; in fact, when the movie gets serious about the situation of the world economy or when it drifts into love relationships between some characters, it losses its rhythm. The juice is in the method of the title, the Gronholm Method; something companies apparently do select a person for a vacant working position. In a wide spaced room, we meet Julio (Carmelo Gómez), Ana (Adriana Ozores), Enrique (Ernesto Alterio), Ricardo (Pablo Echarri), Fernando (Eduard Fernández), Nieves (Najwa Nimri) and Carlos (Eduardo Noriega); seven individuals who are applying for the same position. Montse (Natalia Verbeke), a secretary, receives them kindly, but once they are inside that room, they're completely on their own.And it becomes like a jungle, like the definition Darwin once expressed as 'natural selection', where the most apt will prevail. The humans that instantly turn into animals device their strategy and start playing the game. They follow instructions that are given by texts written in computers, but always wander off and end up talking about some deeper than company responsibilities: moral issues, survival issues, romantic and sexual issues and the economic situation that's always present. To describe each of the characters separately has no point. I can merely say that Ernesto Alterio takes the biggest round of applause, as he expresses an initial enthusiasm with the strange situation that gradually turns into insecurity and desperation. Carmelo Gómez is also especially good in representing exactly the opposite. Echarri playing a wiseass is something we've seen a lot of times, and it does him no good because it's hard to believe anything he says; while Verbeke delivers a perfect secretary that shows an excess of sweetness so that it becomes impossible to trust her. Three years after "Kamchatka", Marcelo Piñeyro's major achievement is the decision of taking the renowned play the movie's based on to the big screen. The people I know (including myself) watch more movies than plays (and I love plays), and "The Method" gives them and everyone the possibility of experiencing something that has to be experienced. I wanted to see the play but never did. Piñeyro, with a necessary respect for silence (and the correct use of incidental music that comes from the secretary's office next to the room in which everything takes place), embraces the tension that the play represents and, by using ferocious close-ups and keeping his actors focused and under control, makes us feel we're there, watching these people closely.And the play is play no more. It's a movie now, called "The Method", that doesn't transcend the merely theatrical, but provides us a timeless document that shows a powerful and shocking experience we can grab and watch any time we feel like it.

The origins of this fine film go back further than the play it was adapted from.It has elements of Agatha Christies TEN LITTLE INDIANS, & the MGM hit film from the 1950's EXECUTIVE SUITE.This movie has an all star cast of Argentinian & Spanish actors, & they all are excellent, The production is also first rate, It is basically a one set film; however it is not stage bound. I do not recommend this for young persons as it is nearly all talking & no action.It is for adult movie goers who enjoy watching movies.Ratings ***1/2 (out of 4) 94 points (out of 100) IMDb 9 (out of 10