REVIEW: Horrible Bosses (2011)

Director: Seth Gordon

Starring: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis

Website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1499658/

This goofy comedy, sort of like The Hangover with some slight shades of Office Space (and not just because Jennifer Aniston is in this movie too), was pretty enjoyable for what it was. I didn’t hear of this until recently, and it had such a weird name that I figured it’d be some sort of really out-there dark comedy, or something. But nope, it’s just a regular modern comedy, albeit done better than some others have been.

Mostly the reason for this is that there’s no nonsense or crap in it. The movie doesn’t try to squeeze in an emotional subplot or get serious. It’s just zany fun, and although it’s not done masterfully either, you’d be hard pressed to really call this a bad movie by any stretch. The plot is that three guys get fed up with their completely ridiculous and, well, horrible bosses, and hatch a half-drunken plot to kill them that turns into reality pretty quick. All three guys are pretty much morons and there are easy ways they could fix their problems. Like when someone is blackmailing you by threatening to tell your girlfriend you slept with them, wouldn’t you just go to your girlfriend first and calmly and rationally explain the situation, thus nullifying the blackmail? These blackmail scenarios are so easily beaten and happen so often in movies, but nobody ever does anything about them. And it bugs me! There are a few other moments like this that do admittedly take you out of the movie, but then, it could have been worse.

And then again, stupid characters are pretty much a norm for this type of comedy, so I can’t complain too much about that. Aside from a few sticking points, this was an enjoyable film. Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell all clearly had a ton of fun playing the evil bosses, with the fun-ness directly proportional to how outlandish and ludicrous their terrible acts were, and leads Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis were pretty funny, too. Jamie Foxx had a good part as ‘Motherfucker’ Jones, the go-to man that the guys consult about their murder scheme. The ending could have been stronger, but mostly this was a really fun and goofy ride that I liked quite a bit.

The jokes were really predictable (well, except for a few choice instances) and there wasn’t anything too special about this movie, but I had fun watching it. It is a fair bit raunchier and more risqué than some other recent comedies, and that’s part of it, but mostly it’s just the strength and energy of the cast and the spunky, loose jokes that are chucked at you like fireballs that do it in the end. Get this one while it’s hot. You won’t regret it.