Is your boss a total sleazy tool?
Rating: 8/10
Running Time: 98 minutes
UK Certificate: 15
On DVD
Nick, Dale and Kurt (Bateman, Day, Sudeikis) all have horrible bosses. Nick’s boss (Spacey) makes him work every waking hour with the false hope of a promotion, Dale’s boss (Aniston) sexually harrasses him at work and threatens to tell his fiance that it’s the other way round and Kurt’s boss (Farrell) is a cokehead who’s determined to screw over the employees and the indigenous population of Bolivia. Somehow, the three friends make a drunken pact to kill all three bosses and they try their inept best to see it through.
The strength of Horrible Bosses is in the quality writing and performances. There a bucketload of impressive comedy performances from people way out of their comfort zone with Aniston not trying to be likeable and whiny for once and Farrell showing that In Bruges wasn’t a one-off. They’re also well supported by Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey and especially Ioan Gruffudd with an incredible two minute cameo. Because it’s from people I previously either didn’t rate or like (Aniston – intensely and Farrell – general confusion at why people actually rate him) it makes it all the better.
Horrible Bosses is cleverly written in that it’s not a group of unbelievable guys in a bubble who’ve decided to kill their bosses but instead these guys watch TV, know the cliches and know the danger and craziness of their situation but still come up amusingly short. Also, the fact that they’re trying to do away with some people they hate is secondary to their bickering which is good as that aspect normally turns into a mess. The interaction between the three characters is well done – not too annoyingly constant and not too nicey nice – and the characterisation is quality too with flaws and genius shared around. There are plenty of laughs to be had throughout with a nice mixture of dark comedy and slapstick and and the runtime is just right for this kind of vehicle.
It's Got: Funny performances from unlikely places, an excellent cameo from Ioan Gruffudd, funny, clever writing
It Needs: For the DVD to have some of the pretty impressive special features of the Blu-ray
DVD Extras Only deleted scenes DVD Extras Rating: 2/10
Summary
A genuinely funny movie with some great comic performances from, dare I say it, the likes of Colin Farrell and Jennifer Aniston.