A cooler for summer-workplace rage

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2011)

Horrible Bosses, a variation of the Hangover formula, is the kind of film I expected to bore me: boy-men on an outlandish quest with fundamentally rude jokes about parts of the body and its functions, bad guys with bad combovers, and outrageously horny women. They're all there, but somehow it's affectionately zany, partly because the actors work so well as an ensemble, partly because their dialogue is rapid and sometimes witty, and finally, because Jennifer Aniston, giving her second solid performance (Just go with It) in a year, plays against type.
Three average guys, Nick (Jason Bateman), Dale (Charlie Day), and Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), hate their bosses so much they plot to kill them. Those arrangements, with the help of an alleged assassin adviser, Dean "MF" Jones" (Jamie Foxx), lead to confusion and laughs that would befit the Marx, Smothers, and Jonas Brothers in collaboration.
The hated bosses are the strength of the humor: Aniston's Dr. Julia Harris, is the wildest and most inventive, a nymphomaniac dentist determined to seduce Dale, her assistant, before he marries. Aniston goofs on her good girl image to craft an outrageously bad girl tough not to like, if only for her smashing good looks, revealing uniform, and surprisingly amusing delivery.
Colin Farrell's Bobby Pellitt (the one with the combover) is a disgusting coke head who cares little for the little people of his company. (Kurt, womanizer that he is, nonetheless is far worthier to lead the company than Bobby.) Like other stars in this eclectic cast, Farrell takes a supporting role and easily steals his scenes.
Kevin Spacey's Dave Harken may be even more despicable than Bobby. As owner of Nick's company promising Nick a promotion, Spacey is an ace at the acerbic and misanthropic: Here he's right at home while being an appropriate target for the constantly humiliated Nick.
In the end, no serious sociological statements are made beyond the universal hatred of bosses. What's left is a comedy with some moments of outrageously low humor, quite fitting for the height of summer.