Movie Review: HORRIBLE BOSSES

What do you do when your boss is a total prick? The type of guy that makes you feel valuable only to make you work harder, but never promotes you.  The type of guy that’s a total screw-up, drug addict that makes you do his dirty work.   A sexy temptress that’s constantly trying to sleep with you against your will……Well maybe that last one isn’t so horrible, but that’s what our three leads in Horrible Bosses have to deal with.  Their solution: kill them.

            What starts out as a hypothetical joke, turns into a full-fledged premeditated murder scheme, although the perpetrators are far from cold-blooded hit man material, so initially they decide to hire a consultant in the form of one Mutherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx).   With his advice they set out on a Strangers on a Train-esque mission to kill each other’s bosses, but of course if it were that easy there wouldn’t be a movie.

As someone who has seen many ups and downs in her film career, Jennifer Aniston might want to take note that workplace comedies seem to fare the best for her.   While Horrible Bosses doesn’t give her a chance to show off her emotional range like she did in The Good Girl, it does give her more of a chance to flex her comedic “flair” than she got in Office Space.  Also, unlike the majority of her forgettable romantic comedies, she actually gets to do something a little different.  Here, as the man-eater boss of Charlie Day, she’s oversexed, conniving and potty-mouthed.  Thank God!  Kevin Spacey tortures Jason Bateman with snarky aplomb as the slave-driving Mr. Harken, Colin Firth is also great as the d-bag thorn in Jason Sudeikis’s side, but the true stars of the film are the lead group of friends that plan to kill these a-holes.

            Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) really shines as the lovelorn Dale, actually making it believable that he’s uncomfortable with his hot boss constantly coming on to him.  His inventive performance is comedic gold.  Jason Bateman, the current king of the dry one-liner, is perfectly cast as the (mostly) sensible, Prius driving, Nick, and Jason Sudeikis finally gets a lead role worthy of his comedic chops honed on years of SNL.   I am not a fan of sequels, but if these three were to team up again to say, go to a wedding, ship an important package, or even deliver dry cleaning, my ticket is as good as bought.  For anyone who currently, or has ever, worked in a dead-end, soul sucking job, this is the film for you.  


8.5/10 Stars


Marques Wayne