RetroJethro
One of my favorite 90's actresses and a prominent role for the music of my favorite 90's indie rock band (Luna) pretty much assured that I'd like this. But, sadly, while it had some slim comedic elements, Price Check is pretty much a lightweight drama about facing midlife when your life hasn't panned out as you expected. A driven career woman (Posey) who has forsaken other aspects of her life to reach the point where she's at in her profession meets a family man-boy (Mabius) who lost his dream job at an indie record label and now grinds it out working in a low paying job in supermarket marketing. Posey is his new boss. They form an alliance of sorts and some complications ensue. It's a watchable film, but it isn't funny, witty, cerebral, dramatic or heart-filled. It just kind of lays there, like a movie that really doesn't know what it wants to be.
meeza
The "Price Check" is right, so come on down and check out this witty independent movie about the supermarket corporate world. Indie-Queen Parker Posey stars as Susan Felders, a hard-knox executive of a Supermarket chain who relocates from Los Angeles to Long Island to head up a struggling regional office of the chain. The employees at the regional office are first intimated by Susan's aggressive approach, so its not like they were "Desperately Seeking Susan" to head up their office. One of the employees is the centerpiece of "Price Check", and that would be the mild-mannered Long Island family man Pete Cozy. Pete is not exactly cozy with his employee situation in making chump change for a job he does not like but needs, but that changes when Susan comes in the picture. Susan takes an unorthodox liking to Pete, and even doubles his salary and gives him a promotion to Vice President. Pete gladly accepts due to his economic situation, even though what Pete profoundly wants is to go back into the music business. Susan eventually gets a bit too cozy with Pete, and that is when Pete goes down the wrong isle in "Price Check". Writer-Director Michael Walker did a modest labor effort in orchestrating & scribing "Price Check" at a low cost. It still boggles my mind why Parker Posey, who has starred in a plethora of independent films, has never reached movie stardom in studio pictures. Maybe she just loves the independent world where the filmmakers can get a bang our their buck in what they pay her to headline their films. The rest of the cast in "Price Check" did not check out too great with their performances including Eric Marbius as Pete Cozy. But maybe it was that compared to Posey, they were in the wrong thespian market. OK, time for a Pun Check! What that meant is that Posey is a much better actor than the rest of the cast of "Price Check". OK, its time for me to move on to another pun isle in my cheesy movie review market. But whenever you get a chance, check out "Price Check". **** Good
gaelicguy
Price Check" is a very brave film. Its characters are not the most sympathetic and its message may be off putting to many in the audience. However the questions it raises and the inner conflict of its protagonist will resonate with viewers, particularly men, especially in the current zeitgeist. When we first meet Pete Cozy, (Eric Mabius) he is a happily married family man of modest means. His wife, Sarah (Annie Parisse) is a stay at home mom, and despite mounting debt, has a rather nonchalant attitude towards paying bills. Pete, who had worked in the music industry years before and loved what he did, is now responsible for looking after his family and works in marketing for a moribund supermarket chain in suburban New York City. Enter Susan Felders (Parker Posey) as textbook Type A personality, who is brought in to save the fledgling business. Susan is a foul mouthed termagant. She lives for her career, she belittles her staff mercilessly, and she is bombastic and thoroughly unpleasant. But she is a slave driver and is on a jihad to bolster sales and get the job done. However, she does take a particular shine to Pete, immediately doubles his salary, she is very impressed to learn that he was graduated from an Ivy League university. She drops by his house to meet his wife and, seemingly, shows her soft side when she meets the Cozy's toddler – an adorable blond boy, Henry (Finn Donoghue) who is very enthused about the upcoming Halloween party at his preschool. Susan asks Sarah if she could attend this event, much to Sarah's surprise. Sarah signs off on it and Susan finds the entire event charming - to the point that she demands that everyone in the office dress up in costume and initiates the staff's first Halloween party. Despite all of her treacle, in true Machiavellian fashion, Susan enlists Pete as her confidante. She asks his opinion on who should be made redundant and confers many important projects upon him. Pete is very conflicted in this role - he is very flattered and his salary is sweet, but, increasingly and, perhaps, inevitably, he is spending less time with his wife, who is very keen to have another child and his co- workers feel betrayed by him. It's all very Faustian, but Pete goes along with it, despite his misgivings. Susan and Pete travel to Los Angeles to make a presentation at a very key board meeting. In a scene reminiscent of Norma Desmond and Joe in "Sunset Boulevard," Susan buys Pete a very expensive suit and a $300 haircut. Nicely groomed and preened, Mr. Bennington, chairman of the board (Edward Hermann) is very impressed with this young man. Bennington asks Pete if he would consider pulling up stakes and moving to Los Angeles for an executive position. Susan, who feels entitled to this job, is wary, but that night, back at their hotel, Susan is drunk and pleads with Pete to make love to her. She says she wants to get pregnant and wants his seed. Pete, eventually, relents and the affair continues upon their return to New York. Sarah discovers what's happened, but doesn't confront her husband. Pete promises Bennington that his New York staff can get an important project done in six weeks, Susan is at her histrionic worst, it's Christmas and there's very little joy in the office. Susan, now convinced that Bennington will hire Pete, does a background check on him and discovers a secret from his past, fires him on the spot, ice water coursing through her veins. Shocked, Pete views this as an opportunity to follow his passion and return to the music business, but he burned his contacts and is at a complete loss, with Sarah, now pregnant, harangues him. As if by magic, an executive head hunter calls and offers Pete a great job with a fabulous salary and the family move to California, his wife, with new born baby and toddler, in tow, very happy, indeed. Pete is clearly unhappy despite his good fortune. The film is beautifully directed and written by Michael Walker ("Chasing Sleep" ) The cast are uniformly excellent. Eric Mabius's does an excellent job of conveying Pete's inner turmoil, trying to reconcile his family life, which is very important to him and the increasingly important role, thrust upon him, in the corporate world. Parker Posey is very good as Susan, the ultimate shrew – but her character is a bit one dimensional. She is the quintessential Dragon Lady, but the why and the wherefore of her character are never exposed and mores' the pity. Annie Parisse does a fine job, with what little she has and kudos to the supporting cast – especially to Edward Hermann as Bennington, in an honest, subtle and a very fine performance, Remy Auberjonois as Todd Kenner and special kudos to Josh Pais as Doug, numbers crunchers extraordinaries, who is luminous in a beautifully executed scene, when discussing his sex life with Pete. The issue of careerism is nothing new in modern fiction and film, but it is usually the woman who is the victim. Walker is a very brave director and writer, for here, Pete is the victim. The women in this film get EVERYTHING they want and neither Susan nor Sarah come off well here. Pete, does what responsible men do – he provides for his family, at the expense of his own happiness and passion. Feminists might despise "Price Check," but the message that the MAN in the family is, invariably, the breadwinner and all expectations and responsibilities fall to him is something we've not seen in films in recent years. Equal pay for women, when it is the man who brings home the bacon? Walker says, "The Emperor Has No Clothes."
