The Boss (2016)

"We are gonna start a brownie empire and teach these girls real business skills."

Michelle Darnell (McCarthy) is a successful and ruthless businesswoman.  She avoids personal entanglements and has written several self-help books encouraging others to do the same.  She sits at the top of an empire and is one of the wealthiest women in the world.  Her assistant, Claire Rawlings (Bell), is a single mother and over-worked.  Michelle is convicted of insider trading and sent to prison.

When she is released from prison, her reputation is tarnished and her assets are frozen.  The only person from her life that will speak to her is Claire, who has Michelle's remaining items.  Claire has a new job with a horrible boss (Cecily Strong) and a helpful coworker, Mike (Labine).  Claire, and her daughter Rachel (Anderson), invite Michelle to sleep on the couch until she finds somewhere else to live.  Her old colleagues, including her nemesis Renault (Dinklage), have shut her out.  Since she can't find a job, she is forced to accompany Rachel to a Dandelions meeting.  That inspires her to start her own troop, Darnell's Darlings, to teach girls business skills by selling Claire's homemade brownies.  Can Michelle succeed?


Fifteen years ago, Melissa McCarthy created the character of Michelle Darnell for the comedy group the Groundlings (it was her favorite character).  McCarthy and her husband, Ben Falcone wanted to bring the character back to life.  They wrote the screenplay, along with Steve Mallory, and served as the producers.  Falcone also directed the film and has a brief cameo as Michelle's lawyer.  Falcone previously directed McCarthy in the 2014 film Tammy.

This film has potential.  The character is funny, as are the cast, but there is something missing.  Michelle Darnell is an interesting character, it is easy to see why she worked well in comedy sketches... but she might not be the best focus for a feature film.  It would probably work better to have someone not as close to the source writing the film or directing the film.  Kristen Bell is the straight man in the act, which works here.  Tyler Labine is the love interest for Bell's character, while still getting a few laughs.  He tends to play the funny friend, so it is nice to see him do something different.  Kathy Bates is Ida, Michelle's rough-edged mentor.  Annie Mumolo is also a Groundling alum.

It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible.  There were some funny scenes and some fell flat.  Overall, unmemorable and crasser than necessary.

The Boss (2016) 99 minutes
Rating: R for sexual content, language and brief drug use
Director: Ben Falcone
Starring: Melissa McCarthy as Michelle Darnell
Kristen Bell as Claire Rawlings
Peter Dinklage as Renault
Ella Anderson as Rachel Rawlings
Tyler Labine as Mike Beals
Kathy Bates as Ida Marquette
Timothy Simons as Stephan
Annie Mumolo as Helen Kreagan