In a seminal essay for Harpers in 1969, the late, great film critic Pauline Kael wrote of our insatiable appetite for trashy cinema. In it, she defends the pleasure we derive from movies with absolutely no artistic pretensions, noting that our love of such “trash” actually creates an appetite for art. She writes: “The movie doesn’t have to be great; it can be stupid and empty and you can still have the joy of a good performance, or the joy in just a good line. An actor’s scowl, a small subversive gesture, a dirty remark that someone tosses off with a mock-innocent face, and the world makes a little bit of sense.” It is a sentiment that more or less sums up how I feel about The Assistant.
The dialogue is a little stilted and the Bahasa too baku. Some of the acting is a bit drama Melayu. There is far too much deus ex exposition with regards to the plot. And the film suffers from having an overindulgent third act. That said, there was just enough here to keep me engaged and interested, namely Hairul Azreen’s batty performance as Feroz, and some cleverly choreographed fight sequences.
“The Things You Own End Up Owning You”
I don’t want to spoil your experience of the movie so I will give you the briefest synopsis of what The Assistant is about. Iedil Dzuhrie plays Zafik, a man who loses everything when he is incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. During his 10 year sentence, he isn’t just deprived of the best years of his life, but also of his wife and child, who are brutally murdered. When released from prison, he makes a vow to seek out those responsible and avenge their murders. It is then that Hairul Azreen shows up as Feroz, an unhinged drifter who claims to be Zafik’s late wife’s cousin. Zafik hires Feroz as his assistant and the both of them set forth to figure out how – and upon whom – to enact their revenge.
What follows is a sort of revenge fantasy that owes a lot to Fincher, and Nolan, and Stahelski, and Wan. Adrian Teh owns his inspirations. He knows that the movie he’s making is, in every way, derivative, but he cribs from the best, adds a little bit of local flavour, and tries his best to push the envelope forward.
“We All Lie to Ourselves to Be Happy”
But sometimes less is more. And The Assistant could have used a sharper editorial eye. The third act in particular feels a little drawn out. I get the temptation to show off just how much Hairul, Iedil, Henley, and Farali have trained to become action heroes, but those final fight sequences could have been, and should have been, a lot tighter.
Take something like John Wick, for example, which is all action for almost all of its 101 minutes runtime. What Chad Stahelski does there is to not just keep the action propulsive, but also integral to the plot. Wick is always moving forward, with every headshot, every pencil to the throat, and every horse kick to the face. Every set piece serves a purpose, and none of it feels overwrought.
In contrast, all of the action in The Assistant feels just a few minutes too long, going on far past the moment by which we got the point.
This same critique applies for that unexpected dream sequence in the third act. (It’s in the trailer!) The symbolism behind the scene in which Zafik and Feroz are free-falling past the Petronas Twin Towers is obvious, but it nevertheless feels wholly unnecessary, and very badly executed. It would have been different had such fantasies been employed as a device throughout the movie, but given that it is only used the one time, and with such mediocre CGI at that, all it does is pull you out of the movie.
“Whoever Comes, Whoever It Is, I’ll Kill Them! I’ll Kill Them All!”
That said, there is still joy to be found here. Despite those nitpicks, I still found myself having a lot of fun at The Assistant. Both Iedil and Hairul have great chemistry together and do well to overcome some of the kaku dialogue they were given. What’s more, all of these actors are so well trained that the camera doesn’t have to hastily cut away from a fight scene. We get to see all of it. And it is good.
Adrian Teh is very good at his craft. I like that he has a distinct directorial voice. I enjoy the fact that he is always trying something new. He may not always stick the landing, but God knows it’s always better to take risks and fall short than just keep making the same middling movies that no one is watching.
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