The Cinema-Hole

REVIEW: Horrible Bosses, or Bridesmaids Is Still Playing

Here’s yet another comedy that made me question whether or not I have a sense of humor.

People love comedies.  Based on years of interaction and meaningless conversations with other human beings, I’ve found that the genre is extremely popular. 

Why? 

Apparently people “love to laugh.”  Or so they say.  I’m still waiting to meet the person who absolutely HATES to laugh.  He or she would either be an extreme downer or the funniest person alive.

I realize that this is turning into the least-focused, most unorganized review I’ve ever written.  I also realize there’s a reason for that.  I don’t really have much to say about Horrible Bosses.  I’m just filling space.

The plot is nothing beyond what’s revealed in the trailer.  Three guys (Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day) have bosses (Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, and Jennifer Aniston, respectively) that are making their lives a living hell.  In other words, they are horrible bosses.  You see why it’s called Horrible Bosses now?  Y’know, like how Bad Teacher is about a bad teacher?

I propose more positive adjective-based comedies.  How about Hopeful Bum or Pleasant Pedophile?  There’s plenty more where those came from, Hollywood!  Look me up!

Then again, I guess those ideas don’t really have the relatability factor.  Everyone kind of hates their boss, right?  Everyone at some point in their life has had a bad teacher.  How many pleasant pedophiles do you know?  Apart from my uncle, I don’t know too many.

Anyway, these three white guys think their lives will be better if their bosses were out of the picture, so they go to a predominately black neighborhood to find somebody who can get the job done for them.  Jamie Foxx plays the potential hit man and the revealing of his character’s name and background contain some of the funniest moments in the film.  Jamie Foxx’s character is humorous all-around.  The three horrible bosses are all pretty funny too, not to mention very memorable (particularly the comb-overed douchebag played by Colin Farrell).

Yes, I am saying that some things are funny, although the opening lines of this review suggest that I didn’t find the film funny at all.  In all honesty, Horrible Bosses isn’t horrible (see what I did there?).  The problem is all the secondary characters are funny and fun to watch, but the main characters pale in comparison.  Charlie Day does his everything-said-in-a-hysterical-high-pitched-screeching-voice thing like on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  Jason Bateman does his regular-guy/straight-man thing like he does in almost everything else.  Jason Sudeikis plays a character that closely resembles the same guy he played in Hall Pass, except unmarried with a different name.  And I didn’t really care too much about any of them.

I guess that’s really what I have against most comedies.  I never seem to care about the main characters.  After so many times, it becomes really difficult to distinguish any distinct personalities.  Just different faces on the screen vying for attention.

A movie like Bridesmaids, however, proves that comedies can contain characters you actually care about.  Almost every single character in that movie is memorable and is given moments that make them human: something more than just another face; moments that reveal honesty, warmth, and heart.

At the same time there’s vomit and defecation.

Now that’s a comedy I can get behind!