Like I do with lots of comedies, I worried a little as we prepared to go see “Horrible Bosses.” The trailers looked great. The cast blew me away. The humor seemed right up my alley. But would it work? Could they put together a coherent, funny story which didn’t include nothing but predictable jokes I saw coming from a mile away based on the previews?
Oh, yes they could. I cannot believe we have gone to see three straight comedies (“Bridesmaids” and “Bad Teacher” were the others) which kept us laughing almost the entire time. I thought we had left the sweet spot of adult comedies as Judd Apatow reduced his influence and Will Ferrell slowed down his schedule . So many others have stepped in to pick up the slack.
We all knew Jason Bateman would play Jason Bateman, seemingly all together but with a bit of concern boiling under the surface. The rest of the cast kept up their end of the bargain in creating one of the best ensembles I have seen in a while. The bosses, employees and ancillary characters all meshed perfectly. The fact that Julie Bowen had a minor role made for a very pleasant surprise.
A lot of the reviews focused on Kevin Spacey playing a jerk, Jennifer Aniston slutting it up and Colin Farrell making the most of the prosthetics they used for his character. However, I think the real revelations came from Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis.
Day already had a following from his role on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” but I think he showed great range in this role that could pay off in bigger movie roles in the future. He only has a part in some Godzilla remake listed on his IMDB page, but I hope he gets more looks because I find him hysterical. Sudeikis has had some movie success, but hopefully cemented himself as a key part of buddy comedies for the near future beyond his Saturday Night Live success. I didn’t see Hall pass, which could have hurt him in this regard, but this movie will probably outshine that (somewhat) flop. Like Bateman, he seems to do a wonderful job of playing himself.
As I have said with each of these comedy successes, it all comes down to the ensemble. The three main characters worked well, but the interrogation scene gets funnier when you see comedian Ron White ripping them a new one. Let’s hope we stay away from star-dominated comedies and keep seeing quality group efforts on the screen. Then again, I just read that Mike Myers signed up for a fourth Austin Powers movie. That could be bad news.