Ryan McNeil
The star power of HORRIBLE BOSSES is an interesting roster. The six leads are comprised of three “A Listers”, and three “B Listers”. And while the “A Listers” get the showier roles, it’s the other guys who come through and carry the film. Show of hands all those who saw that coming?
HORRIBLE BOSSES is the story of three friends and the terrible people that employ them.
Nick (Jason Bateman) is a financial executive putting in long hours trying to play the corporate game and earn a promotion. His boss is Dave (Kevin Spacey); a demanding, manipulative asshole who has been stringing Nick along with promises of a promotion he has no intention of granting him.
Dale (Charlie Day) is a dental hygienist who through bad luck has limited employment options. He is currently working for Julia (Jennifer Aniston) who is a filthy-mouthed nymphomaniac who can’t seem to hear “No thanks, I’m engaged” as a reason to stop her sexual harassment.
Finally there’s Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) who has a job he enjoys working for a chemical company owned by Jack (Donald Sutherland). Unfortunately, Jack dies suddenly, and the business is handed over to his son Bobby (Colin Farrell), and if there was a yang to Jack’s yin – it’s Bobby.
After a drink or six, Kurt, Dale and Nick decide that life might be better is all three of their horrible bosses were to meet an untimely demise. Now they just have to figure out how to actually accomplish such a deed.
HORRIBLE BOSSES succeeds despite its plot. I say that because along with its being silly, preposterous, and borderline racist, it’s also a plot that steals a lot from a bunch of films we’ve already seen. In some other movie, that might bring the whole things down, but HORRIBLE BOSSES leaves you fully satisfied – perhaps even wanting more. How it pulls off this bit of “pay-no-attention-to-the-crappy-plot” misdirection is a great bit of comedy chemistry between Bateman, Sudeikis, and Day.
Watching these three TV comedy stars play off each other instantly made me wish they’d create a TV comedy that all three could star in together. Their friendship feels authentic in its easy-going nature, and the way they are able to tease each other with their wit and incredelousness just stokes the fire of amusement their scenes provide. It’s enough to almost make you wish that the whole film was just the three of them talking in various bars. That’s a good thing, because the titular “Horrible Bosses” are a bit of a letdown.
Kevin Spacey is able to do this sort of part in his sleep these days. That’s not a knock on what he does here, just a note that the story doesn’t take the talent he rolls out of bed with and take us anywhere unexpected with it. Colin Farrel isboth outrageous and funny as the bratty boss Bobby…but I get the feeling that a lot of his role was left on the cutting room floor. He’s barely in the finished film, and certainly runs a distant third in the jackassery department in comparison to Spacey and Aniston.
Speaking of the former Rachel Green, her part in this film feels like it’s been played on a bounce. Sure, it’s funny to watch an actress like Aniston who comes with a wholesome image suddenly speak like a horny trucker. However, the film doesn’t seem to know what to do with her once the boys set their murderous plot in motion. She is essentially sidelined and dropped in the final act – and when time does come to settle her score, it feels more lightweight than the fates of Bobby and Dave.
Sounds like I’m complaining a lot about a film I’m claiming I liked, doesn’t it? Admittedly, I am being hard on it, but I believe that comes from a place of seeing goodness where we could have seen greatness. There are some great moments of writing on display in this film (“I’d like to bend her over a barrel and show her the fifty states”), and the outrageousness of Farrell and Aniston deserves credit for taking famous faces somewhere unexpected. It’s like a burger that smells and looks great but as you take a bite, you realize that it’s overcooked.
Despite not elevating itself into something special, HORRIBLE BOSSES is something fun. Sudeikis, Bateman and (especially) Day are able to play with the movie’s preposterous plot through comedy that is equally smug, zany, and clever. Their charm and camaraderie are able to send the audience home laughing at what the movie does best, and forgetting much of what it doesn’t.