Below the Belt (2005) - Synopsis
Through a fantastic blend of comic acting and innovative computer generated imagery (CGI), award-winning filmmaker Robert M. Young (”Dominick and Eugene,” “Caught”) has created HUMAN ERROR, a post-industrial, pre-apocalyptic, existential COMEDY based on Richard Dresser’s off-Broadway play of the same name. New York magazine critic John Simon called its inspiration, “Harold Pinter meets the Marx Brothers.” The film stars Xander Berkeley, Tom Bower and Robert Knott as three corporate slugs jockeying for position within a decaying multi-national conglomerate.
Dobbitt (Knott) is called away from his wife for an indeterminate but lengthy stint at the grungiest of third-world factories – an increasingly dangerous plant that produces toxins as it belches out its mysterious “Units” to meet the company’s quotas. Following a seemingly endless days’ journey to his new home, Dobbitt meets his new colleague and roommate-from-hell Hanrahan (Berkeley). While Dobbitt tries his hardest to please, Hanrahan is a caustic and bitter man who immediately questions the new arrival’s motives. The two report to Merkin (Bower), a petty and paranoid manager who ruthlessly pits his two subordinates against each other. In their own ways, the three “tango” for power within the company and in their dealings with each other, forming and breaking and reforming alliances along the way.
