Jason Bateman (The Switch) is a well-proven comedic actor and Charlie Day plays the most iconic fan-favorite character on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, but if you told me a year ago that I’d be pumped to see Jason Sudeikis (Saturday Night Live) on the big screen I would have called you crazy. After seeing Sudeikis and Day play a brilliant supporting duo in last September’s Going the Distance, I was especially excited to see them reteam with Bateman for Horrible Bosses.
Bateman, Sudeikis and Day play the trio of central characters in Horrible Bosses. Had the crude dark comedy’s cast only consisted of those three, it still would have been hilarious – but add Kevin Spacey (American Beauty), Jennifer Aniston (Just Go With It) and Colin Farrell (In Bruges) to the ensemble cast and you’ve got one fantastically promising comedy.
In Horrible Bosses, Bateman plays Nick, a hard-working more-then-worthy candidate for the Vice President of Sales position at his company. But when his “total f—ing asshole” boss (Spacey) takes the job away and bluntly tells him that despite his over-achieving efforts he will never move up in the company, he becomes disgruntled.
Sudeikis plays Kurt, an esteemed account manager for a family owned chemical company ran by an old man (Donald Sutherland, The Italian Job) who treats Kurt more like a son than his he does his actual son (Farrell). When his boss dies of a heart attack and the “dipshit cokehead son” takes over, Kurt is constantly toyed with as retribution for stealing the father’s love and friendship.
Day plays Dale, a dental hygienist who dreams of nothing more than being a perfect husband. Now that he’s engaged to a perfect girl, he’s almost there – but the incessant flirtations and sexually harassing behavior from his “crazy stupid bitch” employer (Aniston) is beginning to grind him down. After taking sexually suggestive photos with him while he was passed out during a dental exam, she threatens that if he does not sleep with her prior to his wedding that she will show the photos to his fiancee.
Nick, Kurt and Dale are each honest men with honest intentions who are sick of being held down by their horrible bosses. They believe that the only way to succeed in achieving their dreams and goals is by killing their horrible bosses – what they call “justifiable homicide.”
Honestly, there will never be the need to doubt Jason Bateman’s comedic acting choices. He has yet to let us down. After seeing Sudeikis and Day knock it out of the park during the mediocre Going the Distance and each do it again with Horrible Bosses, they are well on their way towards joining Bateman in that league. Fans of Charlie Day It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia will get an extra kick out of Horrible Bosses when Day is given a “classic Charlie” moment.
Stealing every scene that they are in are the horrible bosses themselves. Spacey is as brilliant as always and Farrell is fantastic when he gives a damn – which he obviously does here because he’s perfect – but who knew that Jennifer Aniston, America’s Sweetheart, could pull off such a vulgar, crude and sexy performance? Aside from an average amount of R-rated language, if it wasn’t for Aniston’s role, Horrible Bosses very well could have been PG-13. No joke, a few of her lines even made me blush!
If you’re a fan of R-rated comedies, don’t hesitate in seeing Horrible Bosses, one of the best comedies of 2011. It’s the funniest film since Bridesmaids, quite a bit funnier than Bad Teacher and far superior to The Hangover Part II.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.
