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No Way Jose (08/03/2007)

released: Aug 03, 2007

description: While he sleeps obliviously in his cubicle, Jose Dominguez is presented with a pink slip by his boss, Joseph Q. Johnson. Thinking the entire thing is a joke, he does not believe his termination, even while being escorted out of the building by security guards. Dejected, he goes home to his wife and seven children. He decides at the last minute not to tell them, and allows everyone to think life is completely normal.

Instead of work, the next morning Jose goes to the local bar. The patrons and bartender dispense some advice regarding unemployment, and Jose follows it wholeheartedly, sending out resumes and head shots, posting them all over, and generally putting himself out there as much as possible. However, he finds no success.

Finally, Jose goes to his last option -- a seemingly empty white building with a black door. When he enters, he is taunted by six voices in an interview-like fashion. Six mysterious beings appear and present him with a check for $750,000. They tell him all he needs to do to earn the money is to "get that which can't be gotten." The beings disappear, and Jose is left in the empty warehouse.

Jose returns home and immediately employs his children in discovering what it is that can't be gotten. As he does, his wife Rosanna asks to speak to him privately. She has seen his resume and head shot posted on telephone poles and demands an explanation. Jose tells her he has found a new job, and shows her the check. She says she will not believe a piece of paper made out for an exorbitant amount, and wants answers. Jose reassures her repeatedly, but his phone rings. It is his mysterious employers, asking if he has found the answer yet. Jose asks them to prove to his wife that he has a job, and they refuse to do so several times, further frustrating Rosanna. Finally, Jose begs his wife to trust him, and she says that she does and she will.

The next morning, as Jose reports to the warehouse, the mysterious beings ask what he did to get that which cannot be gotten. Confused, Jose tells them he failed. They disagree -- he has gotten his wife's trust. Grateful he has completed his task, Jose attempts to leave, but the beings tell him they have one more small job for him -- find the meaning of life.

Jose again desperately turns to his children, who are playing with a new trampoline Rosanna has purchased. The children dutifully set to work, and Jose goes to find Rosanna. She is sobbing in the new observatory, unsettled by the money. Jose begs her to stay with him through this, and sets off to work on finding the meaning of life.

The mysterious beings show up in a park as Jose ponders, asking for answers. Jose cannot give one, so they threaten the lives of his family. He begs them for more time, and they allow it, but only a short amount more. As Jose rushes home, the mysterious beings reveal themselves in their true forms -- they are fairies, set on recking havoc on the lives of simple humans.

Back at home, Jose rushes about, trying to find the meaning of life. The mischievous fairies have a moment of pity and decide to help by taking the form of his children. Jose cannot listen, as he must again console Rosanna.

Finally, the fairies grow weary of waiting, and confront Jose, each of them with one of the children shrunken and in their hands, ready to be crushed. They demand the meaning of life. Jose says he will deliver it, but he must have his family back and safe. After some convincing, the fairies oblige, and Jose allows them to see the meaning of life through his mind -- birth, marriage, family, and other of life's other joys dance before them.

The fairies are touched by this answer, and not only do the spare the Dominguez family, they give them every treasure they have ever desired. Overjoyed at his simple triumph, Jose and Rosanna watch their children play on hover boards and the Millennium Falcon in their bustling front yard.

cast & crew:

comments:

trivia:

• And that would be fairies, not faries. Pardon me.
• The cast of OFP are all literary geeks, as proven by the names of the faries - all from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream.''

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