Horrible Bosses - (July 8th, 2011): R
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Opening Weekend Box-Office: #2 with $28,302,165
Domestic Box-Office Gross to-date: $42,372,139
Gross Revenue: $42,372,139
Production Budget: $35 million
Director: Seth Gordon
When it comes to building an ensemble cast, Warner Bros. absolutely swung for the fences when it started casting for Horrible Bosses. Screenwriter Michael Markowitz wrote the lead role specifically for Jason Bateman, but for the other disgruntled employees that would be facing off against A-list managers; the casting director wisely looked for lesser-known but undoubtedly talented television actors. Jason Sudeikis has been a loyal fan-base from his work on Saturday Night Live, while Charlie Day undoubtedly enjoys the cult-following that surrounds FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, and Colin Farrell were all welcome, if mildly surprising, additions to the cast, but the biggest question marks surrounded Jennifer Aniston. Beyond the fame she gained from Friends, Aniston has had some well-publicized trouble as a lead actress (The Bounty Hunter and The Switch), but anytime she relegates to a supporting role, the result has always been both commercially and critically successful (Bruce Almighty and Marley & Me). Early critical praise was surprisingly strong, and having had a few incompetent supervisors in the past, I was more than ready for a good laugh with Horrible Bosses.
As the title suggests, Horrible Bosses follows three workers who are perpetually abused by thoroughly psychotic bosses. Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman) is a financial analyst in-line for a promotion that his boss, Dave Harkin (Kevin Spacey) ultimately gives to himself. Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) is a dental assistant who is consistently sexually harassed by his manipulative and sex-crazed supervisor, Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston). Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) is an accountant who actually enjoys his job, but suddenly finds himself answering to the cocaine-addicted kung fu enthusiast Bobby Pellitt (Colin Ferrell), when his former boss (and Bobby’s father) suddenly passes away. Fed up and pushed to the limit, Nick, Dale, and Kurt, all decide that their lives would be better if their bosses were no longer around, and after hiring murder consultant Dean “Motherf*%#er” Jones (Jamie Foxx), they each decide to kill each other’s bosses…think Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. Despite the dark plot, considerable dark comedy also ensues, making Horrible Bosses one of the best comedies of the year.
To call Horrible Bosses funny is a drastic understatement, as I was laughing hysterically throughout the entire film, as the jokes start almost instantaneously and just do not stop. Each of the characters is off-the-wall insane, but that is where the inherent appeal of the film lies. Bateman, Day, and Sudeikis work surprisingly well together, but Charlie Day is easily the funniest of the three, portraying his character as so tweaked-out and neurotic that you cannot help but hang on his every word and movement, waiting for the next hysterical freak-out. Kevin Spacey is the menacing psychopath that everyone loves to hate, and Colin Ferrell gives a new meaning to the term “tool,” but Jennifer Anniston steals the show with a character that is such a far departure from her normal roles that her on-screen presence is mesmerizing. I personally wouldn’t mind if Dr. Julia Harris was my boss, but given Dale’s status as an engaged man, one tends to sympathize. Despite the consistent laughs, some critics have still found elements to criticize, but on closer inspection, all are easily forgivable.
Looking at the core premise, the idea of three white-collar employees resorting to murder is ridiculous, but again, this break from reality appeals to everyone’s darker tendencies…I’m not saying that we’ve all thought about premeditated murder, but everyone, and I mean everyone, has had a boss/teacher/authority figure they have hated on some level. Of course the plot shouldn’t be taken seriously and the story is going to have a few holes in it, but seriously, anyone expecting anything deeper only had to consider that Jamie Foxx’s character’s name is “Motherf*%#er” Jones. You may not be running to your friends to praise the brilliant emotional depth or the real-world accuracy of the narrative, but I guarantee that you will be quoting the film for weeks…bottom line, don’t take it too seriously and just have fun. The jokes and characters are raunchy, dark, and above-all, consistent, and that makes Horrible Bosses inherently likable and entertaining.
From a box office perspective, even though Horrible Bosses obviously wasn’t going to dethrone Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the fact that a non-franchise R-rated comedy made just under $30 million its opening weekend is still impressive. Even without an international presence, Warner Bros. has already recovered its modest $35 million budget, and I expect word-of-mouth to keep the film on everyone’s radar until the next adult comedy hits in early August. Incidentally, the next comedy to look for, The Change-Up, also stars Jason Bateman, but I’m sure that audiences would love to see more of every cast member from Horrible Bosses. At the very least, hopefully the tabloids will stop predicting the doom of Jennifer Aniston’s career, because I guarantee that this comedy proves that the sexy starlet is not going anywhere. It may not be the best film to discuss at the water cooler while your supervisor is walking by, but that doesn’t mean that you are going to enjoy Horrible Bosses any less.
Overall Recommendation: Very High
