Horrible Bosses

Starring: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Donald Sutherland, P.J. Byrne
Directed by: Seth Gordon
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Three friends (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis) decide to murder their evil, awful bosses, before they completely ruin their lives.

Review:

Tim: I enjoyed Horrible Bosses. It is a funny, relatable comedy- at some point in our life, we've likely all fantasized about killing a boss (this isn't just me- right?). It does a good job of setting up likeable protagonists and their bosses- each who are different but horrible in their own unique way. That gives us just about everything we need to settle in for a funny, original movie.

The cast is really one of strongest aspects of the film. The trio of friends- Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis are all very good together. That's funny, because separately, I don't necessarily like them all that much. I've been very vocal about my distaste for Bateman. He's fine here- I have no complaints about him. I am not very familiar with Day, but I thought he was good here. Sudeikis is another guy I am not too familiar with, but I don't necessarily like what I've seen. Luckily, he works well in this film. These three actors work very well together, which really propels this movie forward.

The horrible bosses were also wonderfully cast. Kevin Spacey is very good as the typical workaholic, awful, psychotic, overbearing boss that so many of us have had. He's very enjoyable. Jennifer Aniston was wonderful, just because this is such an un-Aniston type of role. She commits nearly every sexual harassment movie in the book, and then some. It sometimes went a bit too far, but you have to appreciate Aniston embracing such a controversial, different role. She needs more of these roles that challenge the notion we all have of her as the girl-next-door. Colin Farrell could have been the funniest of the bosses, but he doesn't get nearly enough screen time. The movie gives Aniston too much time, and Farrell not enough. The movie advertises him as a tool, which is very fitting. I love how Farrell transformed himself for the role. There was so much comedic possibility in his character, yet it was very underutilized in the movie.

The story is decent, but one of the weaker aspects of the film. It does a good enough job of setting up humorous situations, but the vast majority of the laughs come from the interaction between the bosses and their subordinates. There's a few funny moments as the three friends try to figure out how to kill their bosses. These moments are good, but there's too few classic humorous moments.

While this movie does have some flaws (Jamie Foxx, for one), I really enjoyed it. It's funny, edgy, original, and a good comedy. I do wish the movie had a few more laughs, but I had fun watching it. Horrible Bosses is a good comedy.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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