Luckily, I haven't gotten to the point where I've had job in which my manager was an insufferable prick (but give it time, I'm young), but I have had moments where I felt my superiors were acting obtuse, petty, or even downright unfair and unprofessional. I mean, who hasn't felt disenfranchised by their bosses? Okay, now who's been so angry at their bosses that they've felt that cold-blooded murder was a justifiable option?
While I'm sure most of you reading this will say "no" (and I'm sure a good chunk of you are lying through your teeth), this is the premise that drives Horrible Bosses, a passable black comedy that nonetheless decides to play it comically safe rather than push the boundaries like it should.
Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman), Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis), and Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) are three friends who are each experiencing turmoil in regards to their respective bosses. Nick is an overworked financial executive gunning for a well-deserved promotion at his firm, and is forced to jump through hoops by his megalomaniac boss Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), only for Harken to absorb the position (and the extra pay) for himself.
Kurt works at a chemical company under his likeable boss and mentor Jack Pellitt (Donald Sutherland), but is distressed when Jack dies of a heart attack and is replaced by his egocentric, selfish, and coke-addicted son Bobby (Colin Farrell). Matters are made worse when Bobby agrees to profit on disposing his company's chemicals in a South American village, not caring that he's exposing thousands of people to dangerous toxic waste.
Newly engaged to his girlfriend Stacy (Lindsay Sloane), Dale is an assistant to dentist Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston), an aggressive nymphomaniac who constantly subjects Dale to sexual harassment. Unable to find a better paying job because of being a registered sex offender (though he insists he was only urinating at an empty playground at night), Dale is blackmailed by Julia, where she threatens to tell Stacy that Dale had an affair unless he actually has sex with Julia.
Equally frustrated with their respective situations and inability to simply quit their jobs, the men joke about life being easier if their bosses were all dead. But soon the joke becomes a serious consideration, and the three friends soon agree to do away with their superiors. Approaching an ex-con by the name of Dean "Motherfucker" Jones (Jamie Foxx), the men ask for his services as a hitman. Jones instead suggests that to avoid suspicion from the police in regards to motive, the guys should kill each other's bosses instead. Nick, Kurt, and Dale then begin an awkward and increasingly dangerous operation to relieve themselves of their bosses.
In a year of sequels, superhero films, and reboots, I became especially excited to see Horrible Bosses for two reasons: the film is directed by Seth Gordon, the man behind the brilliant and incredibly engaging arcade-game documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, a film which easily lands in my Top 20 favorite films of all time.
The second reason is the cast, boasting a bevy of hugely talented actors including Jason Bateman (Juno, Extract, TV's "Arrested Development"), Jason Sudeikis ("Saturday Night Live"), Charlie Day (TV's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"), and the legendary Kevin Spacey (American Beauty, The Usual Suspects). One would think an assembly of great talent like this would arguably insure a successful film, but in this case, the cast is actually one of the film's few saving graces.
While funny and entertaining for the most part, Horrible Bosses' major flaw is that despite being a black comedy, it doesn't go far enough to justify such a label. Yes, the basic premise of three working stiffs plotting to murder their bosses is dark and macabre on paper, but in execution it's a different story.
Gordon seems afraid to mine the film's dark potential by making the leads too likable, and plays it safe by infusing a Hangover-style sense of madcap anarchy rather than drawing laughs from truly uncomfortable, misanthropic, and morbid moments played ironically (like, say, Fargo or, to a lesser extent, the ultimate "hate-your-job-and-boss" cult classic Office Space). Despite proactively plotting to murder three human beings, the three leads never seem to be truly vengeful, and play the part of Clouseau-esque buffoons rather than going for the Travis Bickle/Rupert Pupkin route, and it's this issue that calls the "black comedy" labeling into question.
Another issue the film faces is the somewhat misogynistic portrayal of all the female characters, which seems to be apeing a similar issue in the films directed and/or produced by Judd Apatow (Bridesmaids notwithstanding). This is clearly a man's movie, and if you see a woman here, they're either slutty (Spacey's wife, played by Julie Bowen), a man-eater (Aniston), or completely devoid of personality or dimension (Sloane).
Despite all of this, what makes Horrible Bosses worth a watch is the terrific chemistry between the six leads. Bateman (easily one of the best comedic "straight men" in the business) is ever-reliable as the put-upon middle management schmuck whose life is made a living hell by his monster of a boss, played with masterful psychotic flair by Spacey.
Sudeikis is solid as the womanizing smart-ass of the protagonist trio, and with a hilarious combover hairdo, Farrell is hysterical as his amoral, drug addicted brat of a supervisor. Despite being having the meatiest female role and still being portrayed as a sexually-voracious pervert, Aniston still delivers with her comic timing and dares to actually break type for once. As for Foxx, he makes the most of what's essentially an extended cameo, though hopefully this and last year's Due Date won't make him complacent with making a living on mostly pointless cameo roles when he has so much more to deliver.
The standout, however, is Charlie Day as the sexually harassed dental assistant. An ingeniously funny comic actor (just watch an episode of his FX series "It's Always Sunny" and see for yourself), Day gives the film its energy and the most of its charisma. Day carries over plenty of the mentally unstable madness from his character on the aforementioned TV show, and every excited statement or outburst is comic gold.
It's because of the great chemistry between the three lead actors and their respective bosses that Horrible Bosses deserves a recommendation. Even though the potential for a truly great dark comedy was squelched and the screenplay is nothing to boast about, Bosses is nonetheless an entertaining distraction. But definitely not one worth killing over.
Letter Grade: "C"
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