Horrible Bosses Review

Ever since I viewed the trailer for the film, Horrible Bosses, I’ve wanted to see it. Work-related films are always relatable and interesting because we have all either dreaded going to work or had a horrible boss of our own. When you add to the incredible cast and the intriguing premise, you have a pretty good foundation for a movie. Even though Horrible Bosses is quite funny and does not disappoint, I did feel as though it could have been a little funnier and something was missing from it. I can’t quite put my finger on what was missing, though.

The premise of Horrible Bosses is quite simple: Three friends all have awful bosses that make their lives miserable. You have Jason Bateman and his boss Kevin Spacey, a power-hungry psycho that gets off on humiliating and degrading him. Charlie Day’s boss is Jennifer Aniston, a sex-crazed bimbo that gives new meaning to the words sexual harassment. Finally, you have Jason Sudeikis and his horrible boss Colin Farrell, a crazy cokehead that is drugged out of his mind 24-7.  All of their lives would be a lot easier if their bosses were no longer around. These are average guys, though, and they are definitely not killers, right?

Well, after being pushed too far one day, the gang gets together and decides it’s time to actually kill their bosses. They hire a murder consultant, played by Jamie Foxx, who gives helpful and obvious advice about planning these murders. In order to keep it on the down low, they don’t want to kill their own boss, of course. Instead, they will follow Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train and kill the other person’s boss. Considering the fact that this is the first time doing this, you can imagine the sort of mishaps that they run into along the way. Let’s just say they should have bought the book: Murder for Dummies.

The first twenty minutes of Horrible Bosses is basically what you’ve seen in the trailer, in terms of jokes and situations. Once they finally plan to kill their bosses, the movie picks up steam and becomes quite entertaining and hilarious. The comedy is more in the jokes than the actual situations. The situations didn’t really quite work for me, but what did work for me were the delivery of the actors and the chemistry of the cast. The one-liners come fast and furious, and their timing was impeccable. I laughed out loud more because of the writing of the jokes instead of the attempted murders.

The plot also offers some fun twists and turns in the third act that will surprise you and catch you off guard. I liked how it ended and where they went with it. It was satisfying and left me feeling good about the experience. Like I said, this is a good movie that just misses the mark of being a great one. It’s very funny, but something was missing from it. You won’t be disappointed, at the end of the day, and you will be laughing your tail off.

Grade: A-

How should you see it: On the big screen