In these tough economic times, many people have dead-end jobs where they work long hours and feel like they are being underpaid. They hate their bosses and want to quit, but can’t out of fear they won’t find a better opportunity.
“Horrible Bosses” provides a certain relatability for not just those people but for anybody who has wanted to smack his or her bosses in the head. The movie is like a combination of the cubicle chatter of “Office Space” (1999) and the vulgar antics of “The Hangover” (2009).
Nick (Jason Bateman), Dale (Charlie Day) and Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) are three friends who have one comparable dilemma preventing them from complete happiness: their bosses. Nick’s boss (Kevin Spacey) is a power-abusive jerk who gives himself Nick’s assured promotion just to torture him. Dale’s boss (Jennifer Aniston) constantly makes inappropriate, sexual advances on him, which wouldn’t be so bad if Dale wasn’t engaged. Kurt actually respects his boss, who unfortunately dies of a heart attack and leaves his cocaine-addicted son (Colin Farrell) to run the company to the ground.
During a drunken conversation, the modern-day Three Stooges decide that their lives would be better if their bosses were murdered. They hire a “murder consultant,” played by Jamie Foxx, and he advises them to make their bosses’ murders look like accidents. The only problem is that the three are new to the crime world and have no idea what they are doing.
The main problem with “Horrible Bosses” is the screenplay. It gives the audience what feels like a glimpse of the trio’s workplace torment, which makes the whole murder plot feel pretty contrived.
The comedy also disappoints since the funniest jokes are wasted in the film’s trailers. Yes, the attempts at comedy are funny, dark and raunchy, but they’re also uneven since the film relies too heavily on Charlie Day’s high-pitched voice and hyperactivity. Day is likable and the screenplay uses his strengths, but his character falls flat once he goes from meek to hyperactive after he incidentally snorts some cocaine.
If it weren’t for the wisely assembled cast, “Horrible Bosses” itself would have been murder by script. Day, Bateman and Sudeikis still manage to bounce off each other with the improvisation that the outtakes reel suggests they used. Bateman portrays that “angel on your shoulder” character reminiscent of his days on “Arrested Development,” while Sudeikis is the character who tries to get every hot woman he meets in bed and provides some of the nasty humor.
While the supporting performances are great, the amount of the screen time among the three antagonists eventually becomes imbalanced. About halfway into the movie, the script makes Spacey the film’s main antagonist while Aniston and Farrell are dwindled down to side characters. Spacey is still a real pleasure to watch with his performance being a great recollection of some earlier works like “Swimming with Sharks” (1994).
After her long streak of terrible films, Jennifer Aniston actually gives a passable, entertaining portrayal of Dale’s sex-crazed employer, even though her character seemed to have been thought up by a misogynist. Farrell is so unrecognizable with the combover that his performance can be considered analogous to Tom Cruise in “Tropic Thunder” (2008). It’s just a shame that his character was given an inadequate amount of screen time.
Just like the three leads, “Horrible Bosses” wusses out on what could have been a great premise. Not as funny as it should have been, the movie still works thanks to the strong performances.