Let’s face it working for someone is not the greatest thing in the world. While there is a fair share of good bosses who you might actually enjoy working for, there are also some really bad ones as well. Those bad ones are the one you remember and tell stories about to your friends. They are also the ones you probably a time or ten thought of ways you would love to get back at them, things like spitting in their coffee, or maybe kidnapping them. Now neither one of those is very nice, but the latter is a bit extreme, unless you are making a movie, then it could be comic gold.
In 1980 Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton kidnapped their chauvinistic boss and turned their office into a gender friendly environment. While not great, the movie did a fairly good job of letting many people live out a secret fantasy, while providing some laughs. Fast forward to 2011 and you have Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day all hate their bosses and come up with a plan to solve all their problems only to screw it up, once again providing some laughs. Well It provided enough laughs and made enough money to warrant a sequel, where this time they are their own bosses. Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), and Dale (Charlie Day) have come up with a great idea and named it the Shower Buddy. When a catalog company shows interest in it, they think all their problems are solved, but what kind of movie would that be. When the owner of that company, Bert Hanson (Christoph Waltz) and his son Rex (Chris Pine) screw them over, the three boys once again try to get revenge only to fail, while providing hijinks and humor along the way.
Few movies should write themselves, but with a title like “Horrible Bosses”, the possibility is there. While the first film had its moments, too often it went for the cheap laughs. While the second one does a little better, with everyone involved, it is disappointing how many not funny parts are in this film. Written by a team of writers and directed by Sean Anders (We’re the Millers), the film has a more ad-lib feel than a written one, but nonetheless better for it. Yes there are parts that will make you laugh, but there are also more than enough parts that miss their mark to make it more a miss than a hit. Comedies can be the hardest thing to do, as you can play it smart, or go for the lowbrow comedy, and more often than not it’s the low brow. This film as well as the original could have been a classic, and while we don’t get a horrible movie, it is definitely below average.
Brian Taylor
