Horrible Bosses

"You wanna explain why you were speeding?"
"I was drag racing."
"In a Prius?"
"I don't win a lot."

Best friends Nick (Bateman), Dale (Day), and Kurt (Sudeikis) hate their bosses.  Nick works tirelessly in a financial office for Dave Harken (Spacey), a psychotic man who regularly berates his employees.  Dale, a registered sex offender, is a dental assistant for Dr. Julia Harris (Aniston), who continually makes Dale uncomfortable with her sexual advances.  Kurt love his job at the chemical waste company, until his boss (Donald Sutherland) dies and leaves the company to his evil, coke addicted son Bobby Pellitt (Farrell).  Bobby sees the company as a piggy bank that he can drain on a whim, and forces Kurt to start firing staff.

Over dinner they joke that their lives would be better if their bosses were dead.  The more they think about it, the better it sounds... They even hire a "murder consultant" (Foxx), who suggests that they kill each others bosses, to avoid motives.

 

Featuring stellar performances from three comedy MVPs, this film is a riot.  Jason Bateman is the voice of reason (like his performance of Michael Bluth on “Arrested Development), Charlie Day is the awkward guy with great reactions (a variation of his Charlie on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” role), and Jason Sudeikis is charming and hysterical (think “30 Rock”).  These TV comedians face-off against seasoned actors, playing to the extreme: Kevin Spacey is truly evil, Colin Farrell disappears behind makeup and prosthetics and goes for broke, and Jennifer Aniston does a complete 180 from her usual “good girl” persona to practically steal the film.  And Jamie Foxx is great as the murder consultant, with the scandalous name.

The director, Seth Gordon, best known for documentaries (such as The King of Kong), manages to capture funny performances from each actor, while reining in their tendency to ad-lib.  Make sure to stick around for the credits for some examples of their ad-libs.

Like other summer comedies, this is rated R... a great comedy, but be prepared to witness significant swearing.

Horrible Bosses (2011) 100 minutes

Rating: R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language and some drug material

Director: Seth Gordon

Starring: Jason Bateman as Nick Hendricks

Charlie Day as Dale Arbus

Jason Sudeikis as Kurt Buckman

Kevin Spacey as Dave Harken

Jennifer Aniston as Dr. Julia Harris

Colin Farrell as Bobby Pellitt

Jamie Foxx as Dean Jones