Horrible Bosses

Nick (Jason Bateman) is an executive whose boss, Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), passes him up for a promotion only to promote himself after leading others to believe that Nick has a drinking problem. Dale (Charlie Day) is a dental assistant whose boss, Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston), is sexually harassing him to the point that he may have to cheat on his fiancee to keep his job. Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) is an accountant whose boss, Bobby Pellitt (Colin Farrell), doesn't care much about his employees and will go as far as to fire others so he can use the company's money to buy cocaine.

While drinking one night, Nick, Dale, and Kurt all come up with a wild idea- why don't they murder their bosses. With the help of a (apparent) gang member named Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx), they set out to murder each other's bosses giving each of them an alibi. The film's plot is quite ingenious; a comedic version of Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train with an all-star cast.

The interesting thing about the cast, is that the supporting cast has more star-power than the leads. This both allows the leads to really shine (because we all know they can from having watched Bateman on Arrested Development, Day on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Sudeikis on Saturday Night Live) and allow performers like Spacey, Farrell, Foxx, and Aniston (in her first well-acted role since The Good Girl in my opinion) to act very raunchy, naughty, and outspoken. The casting really lends the movie a leg up as the comic timing of everyone is quite good, which can also be credited to the director Seth Gordon whose previous film The King of Kong was also very well paced.

The movie does start a little rocky as we go through a day as each of the protagonists so we can encounter their bosses one at a time. At that point, the plot was moving forward, but there were not a whole lot of laughs to be found until later when the situational comedy becomes much more cheerful.

As for who steals the show...? Kevin Spacey pretty much continues his role from Swimming with Sharks and that is not exactly a bad thing. Who wouldn't want to see more of that character? In another weak year for mainstream comedies, the film provides a nice easy-going experience to counteract the intensity that other summer movies might make you feel.