Management is a negligible but mildly amusing little comedy with a Hollywood plot and an indie-film feel that will probably be remembered best for the unusual romantic pairing of Jennifer Aniston and Steve Zahn.

Zahn plays the directionless night manager of the Arizona motel owned by his parents (Fred Ward and Margo Martindale) who falls for Aniston’s traveling art saleswoman and stalks her from state to state in an attempt to woo her.

It’s not nearly as creepy as it may sound, despite Zahn asking Aniston if he can touch her butt and pestering her for her cell number, and sustains a nicely low-key pace and attitude. But it also tends to be rom-com predictable, and for me the idea of a schlep like Zahn being able to romance a hottie like Aniston, whom Martindale rightfully pegs as “a long shot” after meeting her, stretches credibility.

Aniston again tries to show us that, darn it, she can be more than a comedienne, but her attempts at being a serious actress seem to consist mainly of staring pensively or looking unhappy. Indie-flick vet Zahn, on the other hand, makes his stuck-in-rut character the perfect combination of funny, pathetic, honest and just a little eccentric.

Kind of like the film’s sense of humor, which at times gets a little too kooky, and includes Woody Harrelson’s playing of an ex-punk rocker who shoots at Zahn with a BB gun, Zahn sucking whiskey out of a bottle through a straw, and Zahn’s horribly off-key serenading of Aniston outside her window.

I also liked the “let go, move on” philosophy that writer/director Stephen Belber fosters here, an idea that allows for the amusing sight of Zahn as a Buddhist monk and, eventually, for a genuinely touching scene in which an elder monk (Tzi Ma) relates to Zahn why he moved to America from Vietnam despite America’s horrific conflict with his native country.

Ward does a decent job as Zahn’s gruff dad, despite the character feeling underdeveloped, and in her brief screen time Martindale proves to be the film’s gentle heart. Adding a comic boost is James Hiroyuki Liao as the Asian stoner Zahn befriends, a guy who, when the two first meet, messes with Zahn by speaking in Japanese even though he can speak perfect English.

Ultimately, though, the film isn’t especially memorable. It’s simply too slight, even with Aniston’s presence, and ends more conventionally than you might expect it to. But at the very least you can enjoy watching monks play volleyball and hearing Zahn warble “Feel Like Makin’ Love.” – [DVD]

Comedy/Romance

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 9/29/09

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,