HORRIBLE BOSSES
(R)
MOVIE: **** (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
Forget “The Hangover: Part II” and “Bridesmaids.” “Horrible Bosses” was the funniest movie of this past summer. Unlike “The Hangover: Part II,” it wasn’t a rehash of a previous film, and unlike “Bridesmaids,” it wasn’t bogged down in Judd Apatowisms and plodding scenes.
Telling the story of three guys who hate their bosses, “Horrible Bosses” finds the friends swerving into the idea of killing their supervisors at work. However, because they are essentially non-violent, law-abiding citizens, they have no idea how to go about this. So they hire a murder consultant, stalk their prey and try to hatch a plan with comedic results.
The thing that makes this movie work is the chemistry between the stars: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and even Jason Sudeikis (who has been in some real stinkers lately but manages to shine in this film). All three actors are pretty generous to each other, and they manage to work as a unit to bring the comedy rather than upstaging each other.
In addition to our heroes of the film, the villains are just as good. Kevin Spacey plays a version of his character from “Swimming with Sharks” while Colin Ferrell and Jennifer Aniston play completely against type to be some of the worst bosses imaginable. Additional bit parts by Jamie Foxx and Ioan Gruffudd.
This film is raunchy and inappropriate, but in a very funny way, not just going for cheap shots or gags. There’s a freshness to the comedy as well, considering it’s not been done much before. The film uses common tricks, like fantasy sequences and in-your-face humor, but it flows organically and doesn’t feel forced.
The Blu-ray comes with both the theatrical version of the film and the unrated version on two separate discs. There’s also a DVD and Digital Copy available in the package. The special features reside on the theatrical Blu-ray disc, and these include deleted scenes and the featurettes “My Least Favorite Career,” “Surviving a Horrible Boss,” “Being Mean Is So Much Fun” and “The Making of the Horrible Bosses Soundtrack.”
“Horrible Bosses” also comes with that new feature from Warner Bros. which allows streaming to a smart phone via Flixster, a cool thing to bundle with a movie.