Control freaks vs yuppies

Rating: Null/10 (17 July 2011)

What do you get when you cross three career oriented guys looking for some entitlement against three bosses that are the epitome of taking advantage of and dominating their underlings? Well, these three simpletons are friends who work in unexciting positions in corporate, dentistry and chemicals, but have to muster up and combine what brain cells they have to stand up for themselves by fighting fire with fire if they want to match the intensity of some of the most notably horrendous bosses to ever helm positions of power.
Dave Harken, played by Kevin Spacey, is uncaring, highly manipulative and holds a self-absorbed philosophy of do-what-you-can-for-me-not-what-I-can-for-you over his workers. Harken promises a position to Nick (Jason Bateman) by stringing him along to get him to work harder, but pulls the rug out from under him when the boss gets what he wants. You can only use people so long, except Harken is a guy who probably wrote the definitive book on the subject and is not to be messed with. Colin Farrell plays Bobby Pellitt who inherited his position, hates everything about it and takes it out on his workers, not to mention likes nose candy and Asian massages on the side. Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) wants to see the comb-over, drug using loser out before he brings the company under. The least offensive to the other two men is the sex maniac Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston): the dentist that plays naughty games with sedated patients and hits on the soon to be married assistant Dale (Charlie Day). Like Colin Farrell, Jennifer Aniston's performance is hardly recognizable as she goes all out with the role and doesn't hold back with her voluptuous actions and risqué words that would get any warm blooded man sweating on either side of the dilemma.
When the bosses tighten their leash of control to where their workers can't breath, our three pals start to see red while ranting and drinking one night and get the crazy idea to murder those who are making their lives miserable. "Horrible Bosses" has a straightforward plot that goes with the flow and starts to boil as it turns up the heat. As much as their bosses are terrible bosses, the workers are just plain bad criminals who are so nice and submissive they don't initially have it in them. These numskulls try and openly hire a hit-man. After meeting a shady thug in a bar with an interesting nickname, played by Jamie Foxx, he gives them advice that they should kill each others' bosses like something out of a Hitchcock film. They go on botched stake outs and attempt to gather intel, though none of their plans are working out and things start to instead fall in place by sheer luck from their determination and patience.
"Horrible Bosses" is a decent comedy with a share of laugh-at-them jokes. It's humor at its darkest and most cynical with the chemistry of its performers to make its purposely ludicrous scenarios come together. This partly works as a satire that comes with a world of implausibility and exaggeration. Unlike other satires, it leaves the interpretations up the viewer rather than laying them out. It's here more or less to up the ante and show a world on fire without water in sight, rather than drawing up a point and framing a significant message. Though this is simple entertainment that has relevance written all over it with some in jokes about the modern economy and job prospects.
The plot sticks to its guns and cuts out the home life aspect, which keeps things escalating rather than having to jump back and forth with layered back-story. The movie starts to slightly roam after a while due to being so loose. That setup keeps it mostly unpredictable, though some parts, due to all personalities involved being amplified to the extreme, you get to count on it and guess a few instances of what is going to happen next--the bosses being one-note control freaks and the workers being utterly clueless only holds up so long without some personal change or growth. This movie rearranges the sentiments "give and take" into a form of theft of character and individualism, and "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" becomes a one-sided itch that never ceases and starts to dig in. That is unless our three friends can take back and give something to the underlings out there. Or is there ever an end to the ruthlessness and abuse of power?