Video: Not so horrible...

By: Holley Sinn

Verdict: Approved

This summer, the bar has been set very, very low in the world of cinema.  Excluding super hero genesis flick "X-Men: First Class" and Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris", the standard seems to be hovering somewhere around marginal to flat out crummy.  I'm not saying that's why I liked "Horrible Bosses", but without the all-around lameness I've been forced to experience lately, I might not have found this film so likable.  I guess that IS what I'm saying.  But, heck, it's supposed to rain all weekend, so you're probably heading to the movies anyway...may as well go see this.

"Horrible Bosses" stars Jason Bateman as Nick, a mild-mannered, upper-level account manager who expects to be promoted by his boss, Dave, played by Kevin Spacey.  When he is passed over despite his inordinate number of extra hours spent on the job, he threatens to quit.  Dave insures him that if he does, he will never work in the tech sales industry again.  As it turns out, Nick's friends Kurt, played by Jason Sudeikis and Dale, played by Charlie Day, are experiencing similar problems.  After the death of Kurt's beloved chemical factory boss, Jack, played briefly by Donald Sutherland, he finds himself working for the next of kin....Jack's erratic, coke-addicted son Bobby, played by Colin Farrell with a mean comb-over.  Dale is a dental assistant who is desperately trying to avoid the overt sexual advances of his boss, Julia, played by Jennifer Aniston.  The friends are looking for a solution...and all they can come up with is mass murder.

At the behest of Jamie Foxx's hardened criminal "M.F. Jones", whom the men found by searching the city's dangerous bars via Kurt's voice navigation system in his car, the first step is re-con.  The goal is to gather as much information as possible about the bosses so that appropriate murders can be arranged.  The men have, by the way, decided upon killing each others' bosses to eliminate motive in case they are questioned by police.  They steal Bobby's cell phone from his gold-plated porn palace, and consequently drop it in Harken's suburban mansion.  This sets off a chain of events that is all-together unexpected but oddly fortuitous.  Meanwhile, Kurt's weakness for the opposite sex nullifies his efforts at gathering dirt on Julia, and thwarts a scheme to expose Harken's evil-doings.  (Harken's wife is played by Julie Bowen)

If nothing else, the story here is relatively original.  Implausible, absolutely.  But, the antics of the three friends as they progress toward offing their bosses are funny and sometimes charming, especially when Dale and Nick accidentally do cocaine in Bobby's animal pelt-covered living room.  While Jason Sudeikis is not that believable as the ladies' man of the group, the other two are well cast, and if you can get past Charlie Day's high-pitched, frenetic vocal delivery, then there is much to enjoy in this speedy little comedy. 

"Horrible Bosses" is rated "R" for language, drug use and sexually explicit acts, and it is now playing in theaters all over the bay area.