When a consultant is hired to boost a factory's profits, economic
theory collides with shop floor reality to create a deliciously dry
social comedy.
Anthony Hopkins places Wallace, a time and motion expert. Having
spent a lifetime turning men into machines, he has long since discarded
any vestiges of humanity and whether at home or work, he treats everybody
with the same frigid indifference.
The paternal boss of Balls Moccasin factory is from a different mould.
Mr. Ball presides over a menagerie of oddballs and eccentrics, for
whom footwear manufacture offers an occasional distraction from the
more important pastime of gossip and debate. With the canteen as nerve
centre of operations, the company drifts unwarily against the tide
of economic reality.
Arriving at Balls, Wallace is unnerved by the reception he receives.
Used to working incognito, he is welcomed with open arms, the works
seemingly unaware of what his job entails.
He compiles his report; the solutions is simple – sack the
staff, cease production and change to imports. But then the unthinkable
happens… he is unwittingly drawn into the factory's family atmosphere,
and begins to consider the consequences of his advice. Has the man
gone soft or will the old Wallace return and push for closure?
Mixing pathos with humour, reality with the absurd, and featuring
a superbly crafted performance from Anthony Hopkins, the sharply drawn
characters and the acutely observed script combine to make Spotswood
an irresistible cocktail.
