Horrible Bosses

Skip and I had a battle off to review this film. Well, kinda more like a battle of My Little Pony vs Pound Puppies. It went a bit like, “Nah, you can go if you want” “Seriously, I don’t mind” “Meh, doesn’t bother me” “Just whateves” “Yeah, sweet. I can go if you want”.

I was reluctant because I was expecting a re-hashed ‘Hangover’ type film, with a couple of funny jokes, mixed with some explicitly vulgar humor, a half-baked storyline and zero subtlety. And that’s roughly what I got.

‘Horrible Bosses’ is about, well, horrible bosses. 3 friends, working in 3 completely different fields, all have really crap bosses. Nick’s (Jason Bateman) boss, Dave (Kevin Spacey) is a complete jerk that constantly abuses Nick and will step on anyone to climb the corporate ladder. Dale’s (Charlie Day) boss, Julia (Jennifer Aniston) has one goal – to sleep with Dale. And she’s not shy about it. Which is a problem, because all Dale ever wanted in his life is to be married to his fiance Stacy. Finally Kurt’s (Jason Sudeikis) great boss, Jack, has just died, leaving Jack’s coke-head son, Bobby (Colin Farrell) in charge.

One night, after a few too many drinks at a bar, the friends start discussing, hypothetically, murdering their bosses. One thing leads to another and the next thing you know, they’re giving a guy called Motherf*%#er Jones (Jamie Foxx) 5 grand to get rid of their bosses – well, more like consult them on how to get rid of each others bosses. The film continues following them on their ridiculous quest to off their bosses.

Although my original expectations of this film were about right, I did find myself having quite the ab workout, with many uncontrollable outbursts of laughter. But only at times. The film has a bit of a bell curve when it comes to humor, and like Dom keeps reminding Brian in ‘The Fast and The Furious’ that he’s pressing the NOS button too soon (#whydoiknowthis), the laughs peak too soon and you’re left sitting contemplating your navel for ages.

However, the storyline was better than your average comedy. The black humor made it a bit left of centre with some laughs that I felt a bit guilty about, but in a pleasurable way. There were also some outstanding performances from Charlie Day (can I please have him as a pet) and Colin Farrell, who stepped out of his naughty-but-pretty-boy role into a naughty-but-oh-so-far-from-being-a-pretty-boy role. Some would argue that I should add Jen to this list, in fact I’m having this argument with myself right now, but I was so repulsed by her character that I’m struggling to even let my mind wander back to her performance.

I probably wouldn’t rush out to see this at the cinema, but I think I’m the frugal type. If you’re looking for a good laugh with the lads (or ladies), and you’re not a cheap-ass like me, ‘Horrible Bosses’ is definitely worth considering. Otherwise, new (or recent) release at the DVD store.

FILMGUIDE rating:

Reviewed by: Nerice