Horrible Bosses

My Grade:  A

Here’s a little hint for all you aspiring filmmakers out there that don’t take negative criticism very well:  don’t put negative words in your title or critics will have a feeding frenzy.  Take Vampires Suck, the supposedly satiric response to the Twilight craze... I am not sure a single critic anywhere in the world didn’t mention the word “suck” at least ten times based on the title and the low caliber of storytelling.  But there is an exception.  You can use words like bad, suck, or even “horrible” if you make a good film.  But maybe you don’t want to risk it.  They do with Horrible Bosses and I am relatively certain that the only thing that will be called horrible are the bosses in the title.  And I specify “in the title” because the bosses are AWESOME (especially the foul mouthed Aniston... more on her later).

    

Now that I got that tangent out of the way, let’s talk about the film.  There are many ways to describe Bosses.  Witty, provocative, crude, well-acted, and hilarious.  Original is NOT a descriptor to use.  The characters do, however, recognize that the premise isn’t entirely original in a moment of somewhat meta self-recognition.  I find this redeeming because there is nothing worse than a copycat movie that pretends to be original.  The thing that sets Bosses apart from its similar predecessors is that the characters are perfectly cast and the story is so off-the wall that we can’t help but have fun.

    

The three main guys have a chemistry that is as good (maybe even better) than the Wolfpack from The Hangover.  If you don’t know the Wolfpack, then finish reading this review, then go see the original Hangover.  Don’t go see the remake... I mean sequel.  But for those that haven’t seen The Hangover, Bradley Cooper, Zack Galifinakis, and Ed Helms have a great on screen chemistry that breeds almost flawless comedic timing.  You get the same thing in Bosses with the always funny Jason Bateman as... well... Jason Bateman; SNL’s Jason Sudeikis as a womanizing nice-guy; and “Always Sunny” favorite, Charlie Day, as the victim of Jennifer Aniston’s over-the-line sexual advances.  The most memorable thing about this threesome is that their banter during the down times is so creatively witty and it seems so natural that it was probably ad-libbed (but I guess we have to wait for the DVD to find that out).

    

As we all know, there are three Hollywood heavyweights as the “horrible bosses.”  As I mentioned before, they aren’t horrible at all (unless you worked for them, I guess).  These are three of the more memorable characters that I have seen in a film in a while.  Colin Farrell is easily the wackiest character in this film and I can’t watch a single scene of his without cracking up (as a side note:  the poster of him you see in his house is out-of-this world and I want it.  When you see it, you will know what I’m talking about).  Kevin Spacey is great, as usual, but he is actually my least favorite of all the bosses.  He is a horrible person in the film, but he is also not nearly as over-the-top as he should have been to compete with the rest of the bosses.  Then there is the famous “Friend,” Jennifer Aniston.  Her less-than-appropriate (to put it lightly) dentist is a far cry from Rachel Green; and, I must say, it is very refreshing.  And most men would agree with the characters in the film:  Charlie Day’s problem of having Aniston sexually harass him doesn’t seem as bad as Bateman’s or Sudeikis’s problem.

    

Horrible Bosses is the best comedy of the year so far... well, I haven’t seen Bridesmaids yet which is supposed to be great.  But for me it WIPES OUT the The Hangover II.  Bosses isn’t the most original movie in the world, but the cast brings the situations to life in a way that you can’t help but die laughing at.  And, for my closing remarks, all I have to say is this:  JAIMIE FOXX STEALS THE SHOW and the best part of the movie is when you find out how his character got his name.