Movie review: 'Management' weird, but not weird enough

Samuel Goldwyn Films, Star Tribune

Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn in "Management"

Zahn and Aniston can't keep "Management" from getting stuck in the usual romantic-comedy goo.

By TROY MELHUS, Star Tribune

Last update: June 25, 2009 - 8:30 PM

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MANAGEMENT

★★ out of four stars

Rating: R for language.

Where: Block E.

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For my money, Steve Zahn's performance as the dimwit convict Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr. in 1999's "Happy, Texas" is one for the time capsule, an effortless performance that borders on comedy magic.

No such magic with "Management," an uninspiring romantic comedy that casts Zahn as Mike, the lonely night manager of a family-run rural motel in Arizona, who falls for Sue Claussen (Jennifer Aniston), a business traveler passing through town.

At first glance, the plot offers promise: After a one-nighter, Mike becomes nothing short of a stalker, showing up unannounced at Sue's job -- in Maryland -- on a one-way ticket.

That's potentially wicked-funny (if not scary) stuff in the hands of Zahn. But instead of mining that weirdness, writer/director Stephen Belber shepherds the story back into familiar you've-seen-them-a-hundred-times-before territory: Mike is the epitome of the lovable loser who falls for the self-doubting girl out of his league. He's the puppy dog with a heart of gold who knows deep down what he wants; now if she would only follow her heart.

While Zahn and Aniston both commit commendably to these one-note roles, the story -- one part romantic-comedy barf, two parts random absurdity -- strands them in predictably unoriginal goo.

Not even the reliable Woody Harrelson, who phones in a nut-job performance as a millionaire ex-punk-rocker/yogurt magnate, can rescue this yawner from the dumps of the rainy-day rom-com.

Random weirdness aside, Belber telegraphs this story arc from Sue's first drop-in to Podunk. Message received. No surprises here.