HORRIBLE BOSSES
Stars: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Aniston | Written By: Michael Markowitz | Directed By: Seth Gordon
2011 has been somewhat of a stale year for good movies from my perspective, but Horrible Bosses is starting off the second half of the year in the right direction. I went in having very high expectations, possibly the highest I’ve had for a movie this year and they were beyond exceeded. I can’t overstate how much I enjoyed this, and am hard pressed to think of a comedy I’ve enjoyed as much in recent years. The theatre I was at seemed to agree as well. Audible laughter throughout the film, sometimes louder than the film itself. I don’t think I went more than a minute or two without laughing.
The first half of the movie follows the premise of what you see in the trailers, with the protagonists plotting ways to kill their bosses, but mid-way through the movie there is a twist that I won’t spoil, but it played out nicely.
Horrible Bosses is essentially a 2-hour long episode of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, which is in a way ironic seeing as how Charlie Day didn’t have a part in writing this, though his character is almost identical to that which he plays in Sunny.
Of all the talent involved in the movie, I think Kevin Spacey is the biggest scene stealer here – he’s obviously one of the best actors working today and seeing him do a flat out comedy makes me wish he would do more. Day, Bateman and Sudeikis are some of the best comedic actors working right now and live up to that in their roles. Colin Farrell is hit or miss but I think, when given a good thing to work with, he pulls it off. Going into the movie, my only real worry was Jennifer Aniston, not being a huge fan of hers, but she ended up playing the role of a crazy perverted boss quite well.
I’m trying to think of something I would have changed for the better and really cannot come up with anything, except for maybe how the ending was played out. As I stated earlier, I went in with high expectations and as someone who loves the “Oscar-esque” films it surprises even me to say that, so far, I think Horrible Bosses is the best film of 2011, save for maybe Super 8. Not to say it’s perfect by any means, but I think it’s the most enjoyable comedy in a long time…
Horrible Bosses is released in the US on July 8th and the UK on July 22nd.
