Should you watch this if it’s free? Yes.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Not unless you really love Melissa McCarthy.
Score: 2.5/5
Secret ending? Bloopers reel.
Running time: 99 minutes (~1.75 hours)
“The Boss” is a comedy about a nasty CEO, Michelle Darnell, who comes out of prison with no friends or family. She turns to her former assistant, Claire Rawlins, for help to start a new business, but her old habits still linger. It stars Melissa McCarthy (Michelle Darnell), Kristen Bell (Claire Rawlins), Peter Dinklage (Renault), Ella Anderson (Rachel Rawlins), Tyler Labine (Mike Beals), and Kathy Bates (Ida Marquette). It is rated M-18.
Highlight
Visual humour
If there’s one thing the film does well, it’s the slapstick jokes. Characters are frequently getting into accidents, and the film makes use of Melissa McCarthy’s physique when it comes to providing the sight gags. Although the comedy mostly consists of visual humour, “The Boss” doesn’t go overboard with its jokes.
Letdowns
Ethically unsound
The whole problem with the film is that they keep countering unethical actions with even more unethical actions. It’s supposed to be funny and show that Michelle (Melissa McCarthy) is business-minded and savvy, but she ends up looking cutthroat and ruthless. It’s like watching two villains go at each other, since just based on their actions, neither really has the moral high ground.
Claire is bland
Claire (Kristen Bell) is supposed to be the straight character alongside Michelle’s flamboyance, since we need a regular person to contrast Michelle’s crazy actions against. But normal doesn’t equate to boring, which is exactly what Claire is. She lets everyone walk over her, complains about bad situations, and only acts when pushed by other characters. Worst of all, she’s not funny.
Difficult to empathise with Michelle
Michelle remains dislikeable for 95% of the film, and only in one brief sequence do we ever come close to feeling sorry for her. Whatever traits made her a nasty boss at the beginning are, unfortunately, her defining characteristics. If the protagonist’s very personality is what makes her so aggravating in the first place, so much so that we cheer when she goes to jail, how can we root for her later? She does have some character changes, but not the portions that get under your skin. It’s such a pity because she could have done so much more with the character if the focus wasn’t so much on slapstick.
Renault is a ham
What exactly is the point of Renault? It’s true that Peter Dinklage makes Renault funnier than most actors would, but he still doesn’t demonstrate why we need such a character in the film. To make things worse, there’s no resolution to Renault’s story. He’s there purely as a plot device, then dumped the minute he’s not required anymore.
“The Boss” is a shallow comedy that lacks punch and variety.
“The Boss” opens in cinemas 21 April, 2016 (Thursday).
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