Coup!-Austin Stark & Joseph Schuman

In every workplace I've ever been at, I always found that the instigators, the slander-wagon recruiters, were shady slimeball grifters. And, more often than not, my intuition usually proved to be correct.

There was one instance, though, where one of the innumerable generals of workplace dissatisfaction put his pettiness to good use and fattened my pockets in the process. It was around 2015-16 (I think) when—thanks to the alteration of state regulations—the casino I worked at was on the cusp of switching over from salary to hourly. But before this change came to fruition, you best believe that they took advantage of that salary-carved loophole of exploitation and hammered the shit out of us for overtime hours that went unpaid. And all for the absolute dumbest training sessions and meetings that you could ever imagine.

Well, one co-worker who held the same rank as me who was particularly grumpy all the time, decided to take a stand and filed a lawsuit against the casino, which ended up being settled out of court for $900,000.00 Of which, my slice was roughly around $3,400.

Not bad.

Initially, when I saw that someone had filed a suit, I laughed it off and figured it was just an irrational fit of rage. And when the law firm reached out to me, I at first refused to give any statement. Personally, when tied into the obligation of a job that has the potential to be a career, I prefer my boat to sail in the smoothest waters possible and stay in my own lane devoid of all chop. But once I saw that potential dollars were headed my way, I forsake such inhibitions and hopped aboard the S.S. Reprise.

This was the only instance though, in my personal experience, where the leader of revolt managed to do something universally good for his fellow man. All of the other times loud mouth critics managed to make more enemies than allies and saw themselves out the exit door just as quickly as they had made an entrance. I've always maintained a simple school of thought: If your job sucks, then quit. There are other opportunities out there. And unless you are willing to do that, then suck it up and do what you're paid for without the bitching.

*Now, mind you, I'm sure if you were to take a consensus of my co-workers from sunrise shift at the casino, they would have a much different opinion as to how sacred I held onto that mantra. Because I did, indeed, do my fair share of bitching about how much I hated working there and openly criticized the shit out of the higher-ups. But also, to my credit, I did live up to it by quitting. So in a sense, I did honor my code of ethics.*

Anyways, this is the impetus of Coup! Where slime ball grifter Floyd Monk (Peter Sarsgaard) manages to infiltrate a wealthy progressive families estate by applying as the new cook and then proceeds to disrupt harmony among the workers by exposing them to job site oppressions they were previously oblivious to.

First, he breaks the property dry-law and starts to booze. Then he recruits dissatisfaction about the meals being strictly vegetarian. After gaining a bit of momentum in his favor Floyd leads a charge into the family swimming pool and challenges the reservations of J.C. (Billy Magnussen), the head of the household, by attacking at his vanity, which are progressive principles.

"What kind of aspiring Sinclair refuses his hard workers a small slice of leisure time?"

Couple this with the families' seclusion thanks to the 1918 flu pandemic and it doesn't take long for Floyd to usurp the throne and establish his kingdom of the weasel. Where it goes henceforth is for you the audience to find out.

This one was very heavily written with satire and may have been intended to be a black comedy. But I didn't find myself laughing much at all. And that's not to say that it was bad. On the contrary, I found this feature to be a very enjoyable little flick. It's just difficult to focus in on a feeling of satisfaction in getting your money's worth within a particular genre of film. The message wasn't lost, as that part wasn't difficult to decipher. But I'm not exactly sure what resonated within me after I watched it. Going into the film I did not feel as if all humans are inherently slimy and greedy creatures, nor did I buy into such an irrational falsity after I walked out of the theater either.

Oh well.

Peter Sarsgaard was brilliant and captivating as always. He has been an actor whose work I've come to enjoy very much after seeing his unforgettable performance in Boys Don't Cry, and this one followed suit with everything else he has done. The rest of the cast and the director I was unfamiliar with, but they held their own as well.

Fun flick. Definitely worth a watch.

Stars: ***1/2

Verdict: Watch

Cousins: Parasite, The Breakfast Club, Crimson Tide, City of God, The Godfather Part II