Horrible Bosses wowed audiences ($117 million) and won over most critics (69% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) in the summer of 2011. The unlikely comedy starred three guys in their late 30’s/early 40’s who absolutely hated the bosses they worked for so much that they plotted ways to get even with them for making their work lives so miserable. With an unlikely group that had TWO Best Actor Academy Award (Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx) winners from the last fifteen years signed on as supporting characters, this cast was a list of who’s who in Hollywood. The movie is hilarious and is very much worth a view. It seems, however, that the same critics who lauded the Horrible Bosses seem to be the same ones crushing Horrible Bosses 2 (just 35% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). While I wouldn’t go so far as to say the sequel was better than the first one, it was comparable in terms of laughs. While the formula is the same, the jokes are new and original, and the payoff is just as good as the original. With that said, I hope that this franchise quits while it’s ahead. I could see a potential Horrible Bosses 3 resulting in an utter disaster.
Continue reading Horrible Bosses 2 (2014)
Category Archives: Jennifer Aniston
Cake (2014)
If you are looking to see the second-best performance (nobody is going to be able to touch Julianne Moore in Still Alice) by an actress in 2014, check out Daniel Barnz’s (Won’t Back Down, Phoebe In Wonderland). While the movie might not wow you, the performance of Jennifer Aniston (The Good Girl, Rock Star) absolutely will. Nearly unrecognizable, the one-time Friend is a physical and emotional wreck throughout the movie. Playing Claire, a mother who lost her young son in an automobile accident while accruing numerous injuries to her legs, arm, back, and face that have forced her to become addicted to pain killers, Aniston performs her career. I have yet to see two of the five nominees for Best Actress (Moore and Marion Cottilard – Two Days, One Night). But I will say that Aniston’s performance does rival Reese Witherspoon (Wild), Rosemund Pike (Gone Girl), and Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything). I’ll give Cottilard the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe there were six great performances for five spots. However, if I were voting, Aniston would have got my vote over Jones (even though I thought Jones was great). I will explain why in the paragraphs below.
Horrible Bosses (2011)
In 2011’s Horrible Bosses, four of this decade’s best actors (Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Aniston, and Collin Farrell) take a backseat to the film’s three stars. The plot of this movie revolves around three friends. Nick (Jason Bateman – Juno, television’s Arrested Development), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis – Hall Pass, We’re the Millers), and Dale (Charlie Day – Going the Distance) are stuck in jobs that are made intolerable because of bosses who make their lives hell. Their bosses are so terrible that the trio wonders how much better their lives would be if they were no longer their current bosses.