“Fuck the Machine. Fuck the Machine? Fuck the Machine!” I spend a lot of time during this picture trying to figure out who’s performance I like the best. Everyone is given at least three instances in which to shine — except Jonathan Pryce who isn’t allowed to finish a sentence. Literally. Find me a line of his that has a subject and predicate. My favorite scene, I think, is when Roma, on top, is stuck alone in the office and has to have a conversation with the schlemeil Aaronow. He’s polite, even a little encouraging, but you know he just wants to put a bullett in his head. (Aaronow does get, earlier with Moss, arguably the best line of the film: “Boots, yes, boots.”) And just when you think the movie can’t get any better, there’s that moment. When the Machine says to Williamson “my daughter,” and Williamson, calmly brushes him off with a “fuck you.” What’s so wonderful there is that you know what each character is thinking, and why they are thinking it. The Machine has used up every one of his tricks and has to rely on the truth; Williamson now has the upper hand and can ignore anything he says; The Machine knows he’s the boy who cried wolf. “There’s an absolute morality? Maybe. And then what? If you think there is, then be that thing.”