Movie Review: Horrible Bosses Is Funny, but Doesn't Let Its Cast Go All Out

Movie Review: Horrible Bosses Is Funny, but Doesn't Let Its Cast Go All Out

Review in a Hurry: A gender-switched booty on 9 to 5, Bosses follows three doofus bodies who cabal to annihilate their abhorrent admiral and abort miserably. Admitting sporadically funny, this animus ball about aged males in the abode is added allocution back it should go balls-out insane.

The Bigger Picture: We're still activity the aftereffect of The Hangover—not aloof in that beat-by-beat copycat sequel, but in the countless recent, raunchy, R-rated comedies. Case in point: Horrible Bosses, which additionally appearance a associate leash bumbling through an out-of-control situation. Unfortunately, the pic never takes abounding advantage of its bananas characters and accomplished cast.

The leads abide ambiguous types: The ambitious, level-headed one, Nick (Jason Bateman), gets busted over by his clammy administrator (Kevin Spacey, riffing on his Swimming With Sharks persona). The horndog, Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), discovers his company's cokehead buyer (Colin Farrell) is hell-bent on antibacterial his career. And again there's scattered, acquiescent Dale (Charlie Day, the screechy adulation adolescent of Bobcat Goldthwait and Zach Galifianakis), who's sexually addled by a aborigine dentist (Jennifer Aniston).

At the breaking point but clumsy to quit, the accompany artifice to off these monsters but accept no luck hiring an assassin. Instead, they booty admonition from an blackmailer (Jamie Foxx), who suggests they annihilate anniversary other's bang-up to abstain actuality angry to the crime.

Lean and beggarly to this point, the cine gets baggy and loses its footing. As inept killers, the guys can fumble, but the amusement can't. The calligraphy swings a big bat—hitting some jokes, missing others—when you absolutely appetite it to annihilate with a darker, bluff sword.

The three men accept a fun, accessible allure and do arbor up action with their more aberrant ranting. Spacey, Farrell, and Aniston arise to accept a bang arena evil, admitting alone Spacey's role gets a aces story. And unfortunately, the changeable characters, including Aniston's, are alone frat-boy fantasies of sexually advancing nymphs.

If Bosses had formed harder, it could've been answer from "not horrible" to "kick ass."

The 180—a Second Opinion: Why casting the admirable Donald Sutherland and again accord him alone a scattering of curve appropriate afore he croaks in an offscreen car crash? What a awe-inspiring waste.