Horrible Bosses – movie review

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There were two reasons I really wanted to watch Horrible Bosses. The first is, of course, Jason Bateman. The second reason is that everyone has had a really horrible boss. I had one that used to make me cry like it was a game–just a total jerk. It was a comedy I could relate to just from the title.

“Horrible” turned out to not be descriptive enough. I may have had the complete and total jerk for a boss, but he had nothing on these three. Let’s start with Kevin Spacey’s character, Harken, who is also known as “Psycho” on the poster. Once again, that is an understatement. He played the role so well that I not only wanted his character to die but also decided he retroactively got what he deserved in American Beauty. He was good at using his power against Jason Bateman’s character Nick, but he also had a short fuse that everything set off. I mean everything. Harken somehow got pissed off at Charlie Day’s character Dale for saving his life. Harken’s short fuse only added to the movie’s humor.

Then there was Jennifer Aniston’s character Julia, the “Maneater.” There are really no words for Julia. Like Harken, she’s good at using her power against Dale. I didn’t want her character to die, but I did want her to go away because she was causing so much trouble for Dale, who is somehow an accidental sex offender for peeing in a park at night. Julia’s description of what she thought happened was one of the funniest lines in the movie. Julia was hilarious, though overall she didn’t add that much to the plot, except for getting Charlie involved in the murder scheme.

The other boss, Colin Farrell’s character Bobby Pellitt, was the “Tool” boss of Jason Sudeikis’s character, Kurt. There’s not much to say about Pellitt except he was a tool, and he liked cocaine. He wasn’t very involved in the plot, except for when he became a plot point. But he was still fun to watch when he was on screen.

There was great chemistry between Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day. I honestly felt like there was a friendship there, and it was fun to watch, even if that friendship involved murder plots. Nick, Kurt, and Dale were good friends, though, which was obvious from the fact that they managed to not kill each other and always had each other’s back, even when things went wrong. My favorite scene in the entire movie had to be when Nick and Dale were trying to clean up the cocaine mess in Pellit’s house while Kurt was elsewhere getting revenge. The energy those two had in that scene was funny and well worth watching.

I have been trying to think of how to describe Jamie Foxx’s character since I have seen the movie, as his character has a name that can’t be repeated in polite company. Mr. Jones is the best murder consultant ever, but then again, he knows how to take advantage of a situation. Three guys who are trying to hire a hitman and obviously don’t know what they’re doing, and he knows how to work that situation. He also knows how to make something sound worse than it actually is, and that’s just a skill in itself.

Horrible Bosses has an unsung hero, and that’s Atmanand, also known as NavGuide representative Gregory. He’s always there when the movie needs him to help the plot along. He’s involved in about two scenes of the movie, but those two scenes are golden.

While it does have a plot, Horrible Bosses is a very character driven movie, and one of the best comedies I’ve seen in a long time. I’m not saying that just because of my Jason Bateman bias, either. I highly recommend the movie. I would see it again while it’s still in theaters. It’s refreshingly original and incredibly funny.