How to Misdeed in Business Without Really Dying

Rating: Null/10 (12 July 2011)

This film is mildly recommended.
Factories throughout our nations are closing at an alarming rate. So it's really no shock that the Hollywood Dream Factory has closed shop too. Now the dream merchants have become the ultimate recycling machine. Today, new and original ideas are rarities. Evidence can be found on any movie screen. Hollywood just tweaks another successful formula from umpteen moneymaking properties it has in its unending supply, renames and repackages it, and sends it out to thousands of movie screens in hopes of cashing in.
Horrible Bosses follows that studio system fairly closely. On the heels of The Hangover ( a trio of raunchy friends placed into harebrained situations ), borrowing the premise of 9 to 5 and Office Space ( taking care of the nasty boss ) and Strangers on a Train ( a plot to kill off an unlikeable adversary ), with a nod to the dark side mentality of Ruthless People or Throw Momma Off the Train, this latest effort borrows heavily from these tried and true old chestnuts to remake a newbie of sorts.
Nick ( Jason Bateman ), Dale ( Charlie Day ) and Kurt ( Jason Sudeikis ) are three friends all plagued with supervisors from hell. Kurt deals with a smug and arrogant boss ( Kevin Spacey ). Dale has the misfortune to be cougar bait for his employer, Dr. Julia Harris ( Jennifer Aniston ). Kurt works under a dysfunctional and coked-up Mr. Pellit (an almost unrecognizable and underused Colin Farrell ). A plan is hatched with the aid of a shady character named Dean Motherf**ker Jones (Jamie Foxx) to make their business life a shade happier.
Horrible Bosses is the perfect vehicle for those suffering from ODD ( Oppositional Defiance Disorder ). It reaches out to those who have ever suffered any indignities in the workplace. The film taps into the frustrations and insecurities of the white collar employee mindset and our bouts with management, administrators, and executives who have climbed that Peter Principle ladder to success rung by wrong. The audience automatically sides for the hapless trio and roots for the misdeeds to happen to the evil head honchos. That's the set-up, but the pay-off has some glitches.
While the film lacks originality, it does have a slightly clever script by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan M. Goldstein. The film has its share of one-liners and zingers that provide a higher percentage of laughs than most comedies of this genre. Some of the jokes do fall flat, but the majority work. The film's director, Seth Gordon, paces his film well and set just the right tone needed for the weird shenanigans to occur. The humor is character driven, that is, once the sit-com aspects have been thoroughly established, although it takes awhile to start incorporating the murder plot into the mix.
Most of the hilarity is largely due to its talented cast of gifted performers that bring more laughs in their execution of this farce. The over-the-top antics of the actors are funny and their expert timing with this material is showcased to their comic best. As the three stooge- like friends, Bateman plays the put-upon straight man role with his usual self assurance, Day has some nice physical shtick ( although his whiny and shrill voice gets to be a bit annoying in crisis mode ), and Sudeikis fills the horn dog friend role with flair. Especially strong are the more showier roles of the mean spirited bosses, Spacey and Aniston in particular. All of the bosses border on caricature, yet are outrageous enough to thoroughly admire their wickedness while totally disliking their personas.
As the film progresses, Horrible Bosses takes an absurdist turn with its plot, giving it a few zanier moments with some silly slapstick thrown in for good measure. Regretfully, this entertaining film falters into sit-com territory by the end. If the script would have become more sarcastic and celebrated the horribleness of its unredeemed characters, Horrible Bosses would have become a more effective comedy. But the film seems content to play it safe when a real leap into the darker side would have been a better alternative, and worthy of a well- earned promotion. GRADE: B-
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