Movie Review of Horrible Bosses - They are three horrible bosses, but they are also three hysterical characters.
And the titular supervisors in Horrible Bosses are merely the supporting characters backing a trio of likeable losers. Together, they’re the stars of one of the summer’s funniest movies.
Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) are three old friends who each have a horrible boss. Nick could be a rising executive at his firm if his psycho boss (Kevin Spacey) wasn’t standing in his way – reporting Nick for being two minutes late to work even though he’s there before everyone else, taking added responsibilities to avoid promoting him -- and even tricking him into drinking on the job. Kurt is the beloved favorite employee of the owner of a chemical company who is forced to take a backseat when the boss dies and his cokehead son (Colin Farrell) takes over. And Dale is a dental assistant who is devoted to his sweet fiancé but has to fend off lascivious advances from his sexually harassing superior (Jennifer Aniston).
Fed up, they hire a murder consultant (Jamie Foxx) who advises them to kill each other’s bosses so the crime can’t be traced -- like in Strangers On A Train (or as the boys point out, Throw Momma From The Train).
Together, they embark on a truly inept (and very R-rated) attempt at whacking three people who may just have it coming. And together, they are very entertaining. For three potential murderers, they have a lot of charm – they’re guys you would want to hang out with and be your friends. Amid the slapstick, there is quick dialogue – they bicker and get frustrated with each other, but in the way you do with someone you’re kind of stuck with. They don’t surprise each other – they never cease to amaze one another.
If any of the three is the lead and the straight man, it’s Jason Bateman. Fans of TV cult hit Arrested Development will appreciate that he’s pretty much playing his Michael Bluth character. He’s getting some well-deserved attention for this movie, and hopefully will again for The Change-Up later this summer.
Day is funny in his suffering, and Saturday Night Live’s Sudeikis isn’t quite there yet, but he shows kind of an early Chevy Chasecharm. Interestingly in a Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of coincidence, Sudeikis and Day played the best friends to Justin Long in the underrated romantic comedy Going The Distance. I’m tempted to rewatch it to compare the male-bonded trios.
And the Bosses? Perfectly cast. You know Kevin Spacey can play an a-hole, and he is just as big of one as you would hope. Farrell is unrecognizable as the slimy, balding loathsome boss willing to fire fat and handicapped people because he doesn’t like looking them. And Jennifer Aniston gets to play her most un-Rachel-like role to date and totally goes for it. The sexy psycho is obviously the type of part she’s been dying to play. It’s also the type of part her male fans have likely been dying to see her play. (Like Nick and Kurt they may want to ask Dale what his problem is, but of course, “no means no”).
If there is any disappointment to Horrible Bosses, it’s that the plot actually comes to an end seemingly quickly, and their scheme doesn’t get as convoluted or as zany as you might think. When you hear the premise, you probably get some different scenarios in your mind – imagining what it might be like for Bateman to interact with Aniston, or Day to interact with Spacey and so on. That doesn’t necessarily happen.
But on the other hand, director Seth Gordon may have been smart enough to know that breaking up the trio would have disappointed audiences even more. The stars of Horrible Bosses are a terrific combo, and the more time they spend together, the better.