Okay everyone, you know me. I’m always up for checking out new flicks, especially when I don’t have to pay to see them, however “Miss Nobody†is one that I gladly would have paid to see, for little did I know when I attended a distributor’s screening that I was going to be privy to one of the funniest, quirkiest, and crowd-pleasing comedies.
Film stars megawatt talent, Leslie Bibb, masterfully channeling her inner Diane Keaton for the role of Sarah Jane McKinney—an unlucky-in-love secretary at Los Angeles based Judge Pharmaceuticals. Sarah is a dreamer, an optimist, and a girl who holds true to the maxim that the system will enable her to succeed if she simply follows the rules and believes.
Always trying to better herself she applies for a promotion (and with a few resume enhancements—i.e., “some
bold lies,†she lands the job). But, the day she’s to move into her new office; she discovers she’s been supplanted by hotshot exec, Milo Beeber (Brandon Routh). To add insult to injury Sarah’s previous job has already been filled and so she must become…Milo’s secretary.
How many of you have ever been in a situation where you thought you were getting something you dearly wanted only to find your dream shattered? Whether it’s been work, school, sports or matters of the heart, we’ve all been there and Bibb plays Sarah so truthfully, imbuing her with such a childlike naiveté that her pain will resonate even with the most jaded of us.
At the behest of her BFF, Charmaine (Missi Pyle) Sarah decides to make a play for Milo. If she can’t be the boss, she might as well marry him. One night after a “working†dinner, Milo makes a play for Sarah. During his advances Sarah learns Milo’s engaged to another woman. Disheartened she tries to leave Milo’s apartment, but Milo misinterprets Sarah’s waning interest as coquettish whimsy. Turned on, Milo gives chase, forcing Sarah up a ladder—yes, there’s a ladder in his living room—it makes sense in the film, trust me. With nowhere to go, Sarah gives him a shove backwards, and poor Milo is impaled on a pointy umbrella, which kills him instantly.
Half expecting to find the police at her office the next day, ready to arrest her for murder, Sarah is instead surprised to find two of her superiors who let her know of Milo’s terrible fate, and inform her that she’s to be given the new executive position, after all. Sarah attributes her good luck to her patron Saint George, who always seems to mystically intervene on her behalf.
What follows is a cleverly comedic series of extortion attempts by each of her co-workers—who all seem to know that Sarah had a hand in Milo’s demise and intend to use the information to their advantage. “Sarah,†with the implicit approval of St. George, says screenwriter Douglas Steinberg “soon finds herself murdering her way up the corporate ladder, racking up success after success without feeling even the slightest tinge of guilt. How wonderful that she can mistake murder as a natural by-product of “being competitive.†In other words, “Miss Nobody†actually does what many of us simply fantasize about—killing our bosses without regret and being rewarded handsomely for the effort.â€
Also noteworthy is Adam Goldberg’s performance as Bill Malloy the detective assigned to the case—who also falls hard for Sarah. Nothing makes for a better love scene than a corpse in the background waiting to be discovered. Between their double-entendres and the film’s shades of magical realism, luck, fate and outside forces converging, it’s as if “Working Girl†met “Practical Magic†and had a darkly, comedic baby. The wickedly, delicious ending will also not disappoint.
Newcomer, director T. Abram Cox has crafted a fine film, garnered great performances and made an independent feature look like a studio film. If ever a film deserved a distribution deal, this is the one.
