The manner in which the central scheme plays out is predictably moronic, vulgar and juvenile, though the parties involved just about make up for it. The three lead funnymen (all of whom honed their comedic chops on television) are seasoned enough to make their displays of bumbling ineptitude seem positively skillful, building a consistently amusing rapport while inhabiting well-defined types -- Bateman the measured voice of reason, Sudeikis the group's skirt-chasing id and Day the squeaky third wheel.
Structurally, there's a certain deftness to the way various gags pay off down the road as plot twists; audiences will be gratified to know that the sight of Sudeikis, introducing a toothbrush to an orifice without teeth, is not entirely gratutious. And director Seth Gordon ("Four Christmases") seems to grasp that the pic's kill-your-boss fantasy is primal enough to excuse, and perhaps even warrant, a crude, sloppy approach. Indeed, it's hard not to wish the helmer had abandoned the safety net and pushed his characters into darker, more daring territory; there's at least one moment of violence so shockingly abrupt it provides a brief glimpse of the edgier comedy "Horrible Bosses" could have been.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Horrible Bosses -- Jason Bateman/Charlie Day/Jason Sudeikis 
Posting Permissions
3Likes
Reply With Quote
notbob
