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.
Nick is a businessman who works insanely long hours day in and day out and takes crap from Dave (Spacey – American Beauty, The Usual Suspects), all because he is next in line to receive a promotion to become Vice President of Sales. Nick lacks a social life outside Kurt and Dale because he is always at work. When Dave decides to promote himself, Nick feels like the carpet is pulled from underneath his feet.
Kurt has a job at a chemical company working for the president of the company named Jack (Donald Sutherland – Ordinary People, Space Cowboys), whom he loves. Kurt has all but been promised Jack’s job when he retires, but there has yet to be an official plan in place because all of that is still a couple of years away. However, when Jack has a sudden heart and dies, the president’s job goes to Jack’s son Bobby (Farrell – In Bruges, Phone Booth). Bobby is a lazy, irresponsible cocaine addict who has no interest in bettering off the company Jack and Kurt worked so hard to build. Bobby makes it well-known that he is looking to cut costs at any expense (releasing loyal employees, being less ethical when disposing of waste, etc.) to take the company’s profits and retire in a few years.
Dale is a dental assistant to the gorgeous Dr. Julia Harris (Aniston – The Break-Up, Rumor Has It), a bit of a sexual predator who makes unwanted sexual advances to Dale even though she knows he is recently engaged. It’s pretty funny to hear the three friends talk about how bad their situations are at work to see Nick and Kurt turn towards Dale and say something to the effect of, “You know, Dale. Your situation doesn’t sound that bad.”
The trio imagines how great life would be without their bosses and jokingly discusses having them killed. Their half-kidding becomes a reality when a former convict named Dean (Foxx – Ray, Collateral) overhears their conversation at a bar. He helps them devise a plan to kill each other’s bosses.
This is where the real fun begins. Nick, Kurt, and Dale are all good guys with good hearts, so we know from the movie’s onset that regardless of what happens or doesn’t happen to each of their bosses, the three protagonists aren’t going to be in any real trouble. So we can watch them get deeper into each situation without fearing for their safety. Watching them scope out their bosses’ homes to gather cognizance to help them carry out the perfect murder is priceless. They have no idea what they are doing. Watching them parade around like criminal wannabes is fantastic.
The laughs are constant, and the movie’s pace never really slows. You only go a minute or two with a laugh-out-loud moment. In terms of pure comedy, I would put the film up with the original Hangover, Old School, and Meet the Parents. And like those three movies, the plot comes together too. Its purpose is to make us laugh, but that’s not its sole goal. It tells a great little story along the way. I thought Pineapple Express was pretty funny, but I was ready for it to be over far before it concluded. It dragged just to get a few more jokes in. Horrible Bosses isn’t like that at all. You’ll enjoy your entire experience. If you are a fan of the television show Arrested Development, you will love Jason Bateman in this movie. He plays his Michael Bluth for 97 minutes.
As funny as The Hangover 2 was, Horrible Bosses is the must-see comedy of 2011.
Plot 7.5/10
Character Development 7/10
Character Chemistry9.5/10
Acting 8.5/10
Screenplay 7.5/10
Directing 8.5/10
Cinematography 7.5/10
Sound 7.5/10 (very nice music)
Hook and Reel 7.5/10
Universal Relevance 7.5/10
78.5%