On DVD: 'Management'

'Management' (PG-13) **

Writer and Director: Stephen Belber
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn, Woody Harrelson, Margo Martindale, Tzi Ma, Fred Ward, Mark Boone, Jr., James Hiroyuki Liao

"Management" is such a nice, easy going movie with two nice and attractive people who we hope will fall in love with each other. They are played by Jennifer Aniston who has built a nice career playing normal women in smaller films and Steve Zahn who is funny and having quite a great run these last few years. Jennifer Aniston has been playing wholesome, attractive women lately and I am impressed because seeing her in real life I find her more beautiful in person so there is a little de-glamorization going on. That makes a character like this more appealing because sometimes you liking seeing nice, normal people getting together in a movie. "Management" has a few nice moments but is very inconsistent. The first scene is set at a motel where Aniston is staying on a business trip. The Zahn character works at the motel run by his family. He comes to her room twice and offers her a bottle of wine on the house (or on the motel) and then after they talk he asks to touch her butt. That is cute but actually a little creepy so the movie is starting off on a weird tangent. The movie settles down then and has some nice, charming scenes and good supporting characters including the great Fred Ward and Margo Martindale as Zahn's mother. Martindale is sweet here and if you watch this and then look at her monster in "Million Dollar Baby" you will see how great of an actress she is. Woody Harrelson is also funny here and I found the movie watchable, liked the characters but didn't like what happened to them until the end which is a good ending but a little rushed. This is a very light film that was in danger of blowing away.