In a time when there has been some awfully lame comedies released it is refreshing to discover a Hollywood comedy that not only works but makes you laugh. In a lot of ways Horrible Bosses seems more like a French comedy than an American film, but one thing is guaranteed – you will be able to identify with how these characters feel and will totally love the film.
Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman – The Change Up, Paul), Dale Arbus (Charlie Day – Going The Distance, TV’S It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia) and Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis – TV’S Saturday Night Light & The Cleveland Show) are friends that all have one thing in common, they hate their bosses. Nick has Dave (Kevin Spacey – Margin Call, Casino Jack) as a boss – a mean-spirited, cruel boss, Kurt has the morally corrupt Bobby Pellitt (Colin Farrell – Fright Night, London Boulevard) who is running the company into the ground while taking a massive amount of drugs while Dale is being severally sexually-harassed by his boss, Julia (Jennifer Aniston – Just Go With It, The Switch). After some thought, and a meeting with Dean ‘MF’ Jones (Jamie Foxx – Rio, Due Date) the three decide the only way to make their lives better is to kill each other’s bosses.
I’m sure praise will be heaped onto director, Seth Gordon (TV’S ‘Breaking In’ & ‘Modern Family) for any success that Horrible Bosses gains. But really the praise needs to be heaped onto the screenwriters. It is their script that makes Horrible Bosses such a great watch. Yes, some of the comedy is crass but if you can stomach that then you’re in for a laugh-filled hour-and-an-half. As I previously mentioned a lot of the humour of the film is similar to that in French films such as A Pain In The Ass, and this mixed with some good old-fashioned Kevin Smith American style crass humor works wonderfully well… perhaps that is something that some Hollywood screenwriters should take note of.
The other major factor in Horrible Bosses working is the fact that once again the casting team of a movie have realized that casting good actors in the minor roles leads to a thoroughly enjoyable film. While, Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis are terrific in their lead roles it is Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx and Kevin Spacey that steal the show. Farrell gets so far into character that he is virtually unrecognizable, while Spacey’s performance is truly memorable.
If you’re looking for a comedy that is guaranteed to make you laugh than you could do a lot worse than Horrible Bosses. This smart script has resulted in one very hilarious film.
Year: 2011
Director: Seth Gordon
Stars: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 98 mins
Rating: 
Available on DVD from 11th January, 2012