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| Horrible Bosses movie poster, image property of Warner Bros. |
Horrible Bosses ADMIRABLE
With the exception of Bridesmaids—which I have seen three times because I love it so much—I have been disappointed with comedies this year. Hangover II and Bad Teacher were really quite forgettable, each causing me to laugh more in the 3-minute trailer than I ever did in the 2-hour movie. But Horrible Bosses surprised me because it was a comedy that was, well, funny.
Yes. It’s funny. Crazy, huh?
Jason Bateman stars as Nick Hendriks who is working overtime as a middle manager hoping for a big promotion. His psycho boss Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey) dangles the job in front of him making him jump through bizarre hoops and essentially tormenting him unceasingly, only to screw him in the end. Nick is so angry that he wants to kill the guy. Metaphorically speaking, that is. Or is it?
His best friends, Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) and Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis), also hate their bosses. Dale works as a dental assistant to a dentist named Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston) who is a sexual deviant. She is blackmailing him to have sex with her, and does everything in her power to make him feel uncomfortable. She could care less that he’s engaged. Then there is Kurt, who works at a chemical manufacturing company and whose terrific boss has just died. Now the former boss’s crazy tool of a son, Bobby Pellitt (Colin Farrell) is in charge of the company, having wild parties in his office, doing drugs, and running the company into the ground.
One night they decide to kill their bosses and find an ex-con named MF Jones (Jamie Foxx) to do it for them. He takes their money but doesn’t do the dirty work. Instead he convinces them to do it Strangers on a Train-style, each one killing the other’s boss and not his own.
I mean, I wouldn’t mind seeing my boss deader than a doornail… but I know I could never actually commit murder. Could you? And I bet you are wondering if Nick, Dale and Kurt do. But you’ll just have to watch it to find out.
What really made this movie work were the quick pacing, clever writing, and terrific casting. Really, the stars of this movie knew how to milk each line or each situation for all it was worth. Jennifer Aniston hasn’t been this funny in a long time, and I was really blown away by just how perverted she could be. Kevin Spacey is a brilliant actor, of course, and in this movie you want nothing more than to gouge his eyes out with a spoon! And our three frazzled employees are each separately funny, but even better when together. They have a really great comedic chemistry, and had me laughing gleefully all throughout the movie.
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