'HORRIBLE BOSSES' isn't horrible but it isn't that good either.

Rating: 5/10 (9 July 2011)

'HORRIBLE BOSSES': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Dark comedy with a plot-line almost everyone can relate to focusing on three men who plot to kill their self absorbed sadistic bosses. In today's economy the premise is almost guaranteed box-office gold but that's one of the only things the film really has going for it. It's yet another comedy that probably sounded a lot better on paper but then failed to translate (any strong humor) to the screen. One other thing the film does have going for it though is a really strong and impressive cast featuring Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Collin Farrell, Julie Bowen, Donald Sutherland and Jamie Foxx. It was written by Michael Markowitz, Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis Daley (who also plays a small part in the film) and directed by Seth Gordon (who's known for directing the popular documentary 'THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS' and a segment of another documentary film known as 'FREAKONOMICS').
Bateman stars as Nick Hendricks, an employee of a successful financial firm who has been putting up with his abusive boss, Dave Harken (Spacey), for years in hopes of a promotion. When the time comes for Nick to receive the promotion he deserves Harken absorbs the position himself instead. Day plays a recently engaged dental assistant named Dale Arbus who constantly has to put up with his boss Julia Harris's (Aniston) inappropriate sexual advances. Things escalate to the point where Julia blackmails Dale into having sex with her. Sudeikis also co-stars as a happily employed industrial worker named Kurt Buckman who has a change of fortune when his lovable boss Jack Pellitt (Sutherland) dies and his moronic cocaine addicted son Bobby (Farrell) takes over the company. All three men reach the point where they decide to resort to murder and look into hiring a specialist to 'take out' their bosses. They turn to Dean "Motherf---er" Jones (Foxx) to do the job.
The film works on a lot of levels: the actors are all well cast and deliver strong performances and the movie has a lot of funny ideas. The directing is a little off target though and the script probably could have used some more polishing. The cast is funny but I can think of a few better casting choices, in my opinion. I would have went with a Charlize Theron, Salma Hayek or Sigourney Weaver in Aniston's role. Jennifer does her best but she's a little too sweet and innocent to really pull off that part. I also would have went with more notorious celebrities for the Farrell and Spacey roles (although Spacey is perfect in his part, he seems like he's so full of himself that he does make the perfect ass). Someone like Charlie Sheen or Mel Gibson would have been hilarious in Farrell's role though (especially Sheen). One of the main problems with the film is you don't hate the bosses enough. In order for the film to be really relatable the bosses should have been almost pure evil. The movie is also not dark enough so it has a really uneven tone. Three likable guys resort to murder pretty quickly but of course the viewer always knows they're not going to be able to go through with it. Even with all these flaws the movie's main problem is that it's just not that funny. Parts work but not a single scene is truly laugh out loud hilarious (Foxx is completely wasted in the film). It's a shame because it had so much potential!
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