Over the top? Ridiculous? Yes, indeed. But Horrible Bosses is
actually a truly hilarious movie that wings along on the strength of its
leading actors and their amazing chemistry--and on its great
high-concept premise. Three friends, Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason
Sudeikis), and Dale (Charlie Day), commiserate about their three
respective Horrible Bosses. And yes, each is the worst kind of HR
nightmare. Nick's boss is Dave (Kevin Spacey, terrific), a control-freak
megalomaniac. Kurt's is Bobby (an almost unrecognizable Colin Farrell),
a skeevy cokehead. And Dale's is Julia (Jennifer Aniston, having so
much fun it's contagious), a sexual harasser who never misses an
opportunity to prey (or swear). Suddenly, there's a Hitchcockian twist:
What if each of the miserable workers could make one of the others'
worst nightmares go away? But Horrible Bosses is no Strangers on a Train.
Instead, it's a rollicking romp of bad-intentions-gone-even-worse, with
the chemistry of all of the actors keeping things moving along crisply.
The supporting cast is also great, including Donald Sutherland and
Jamie Foxx, a tough hood whom the trio has the very bad sense to get
"hit tips" from. Spacey hasn't been in his element like this in years,
and it's great to see him back in top form. Farrell should be
appreciated as a comic genius after this performance (splendidly
directed, it should be pointed out, by veteran TV sitcom director Seth
Gordon). And Horrible Bosses gives Aniston a meaty role she was
born to play--assertive, moral-less, vengeful, petty. And all of it
hilarious. For anyone who's ever had a bad boss, and even fleetingly
played with the dark notion that's played here for laughs, Horrible Bosses is the best kind of revenge--served with laughs.