Movie Review - "Horrible Bosses" (2011) ***

     If you have been in the workforce long enough, it's almost natural to have a time or two where you wished ill will against your boss. While I have been lucky and had pretty good bosses my entire work career, there have been a couple of exceptions and there have been moments where I wanted to toss them out a window. It happens. But the majority of us are sane and never actually consider carrying out our malicious thoughts. So we are given the movie Horrible Bosses to do that for us.

     The movie focuses on three characters who represent a microcosm of what most of us do on a daily basis. Nick (Jason Bateman) is moving up the corporate ladder and feels he is close to a big promotion. The only thing holding him back is Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), the boss from hell. He's the kind of person that freaks out, even if you are one minute late, and will hold it over your head every chance he can get. Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), actually likes his boss but when his mentor passes away, the coke addict son (Colin Farrell) takes his place and every decision he makes is meant to make more profit to support his drug habit. Dale (Charlie Day) is a dental assistant who is looking forward to marrying his fiancee. There's one problem though. His boss, Julia (Jennifer Aniston), is a sex addict and spends most of the day making unwelcome sexual advances towards Dale. Sexual Harassment are not words that exist in her dictionary. After a night out drinking, and some shady advice from a "hitman" named Mother****er Jones (Jamie Foxx) (this is not a movie for kids by the way!!!!), the trio decide to murder each others bosses, ala Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train. Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men don't always work out, and with these bumbling criminals the odds of everything going right are nil.

      Horrible Bosses isn't up to the level of The Hangover, but if you enjoyed that movie you will probably enjoy this too. The story is pretty basic, and the ending is a big letdown, but the buildup has some very funny scenes and I found myself laughing a lot. The director, Seth Gordon, hasn't done many films but he did make the excellent documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, a must-see for any video game enthusiasts out there, so I like the body of work he has going so far. The actors in this movie are the real stars though. For whatever flaws the script has, the actors do a great job with what they are given. Has Jason Bateman ever been in anything bad?? I'm less familiar with Sudeikis and Day, but they have a good rapport with Bateman and when those three were on screen together the movie really works. Jennifer Aniston drops her girl-next-door persona and provides some of the raunchiest, and funniest, moments of the film. (Once again, this movie is NOT for kids) Kevin Spacey, and an almost unrecognizable Colin Farrell, also are great over-the-top fun in their roles as bosses who you hope you never have. Horrible Bosses is not a great movie but if you are looking for something to watch one night and want a few good, raunchy laughs, you can do a lot worse.