Delayed Reaction: Horrible Bosses

The Pitch: Three differently funny men going up against three very game performers looking to have fun with their film personas.

Three men set up a plan to kill their - well - horrible bosses.

On paper, I like a lot about Horrible Bosses. Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Suidekis all have different comedic talents that contrast well. They are all capable of playing the straight man or the funny man. The casting of the bosses is terrific. Kevin Spacey is the quintessential asshole*. Jennifer Aniston delights in playing against her good girl image. Collin Ferrell LOVES going weird. This is the beginning of the John Francis Daley/Jonathan Goldstein writing/directing team that is slowly taking over a certain brand of comedy. Director Seth Gordon also excels at this kind of studio-approved comedy.

*Post #MeToo that's even more true.

I just don't care for this movie though. It really all comes down to the fact that the jokes don't make me laugh. I wish they did. Given that I felt the same way about Daley and Goldstein's movie Game Night, I'm starting to think it might be something about their sense of humor. (For the record, I preferred Game Night a lot more to this). I actually saw this movie when it came out in theaters (shortly before I started these Reactions) and thought it was forgettable. I had a number of friends who loved it, so I was happy to give it another shot - this time seeing it with other people rather than alone. Sadly, my opinion didn't change much. Here's my best attempt to pin down why:

The bosses were too horrible, or not believably horrible. For example, when Sudeikis seems to be the only one in his office who recognizes that Farrell is an awful person. Jennifer Aniston's nymphomania doesn't really make much sense beyond the idea "wouldn't it be fun to have Jennifer Aniston say inappropriately dirty things?" I'll admit that I have never cared for Jennifer Aniston. I don't actively hate her, but other than maybe The Good Girl, she's never my favorite part of anything. I also don't like Jamie Foxx much. I remember liking his WB show back in the day, but ever since he won that Oscar for Ray, there's something about him that rubs me the wrong way. His comedy in Horrible Bosses is entirely about how many odd tics he can give his character. It's like he got so concerned with being cool that he forgot how to just be funny.

It's nice at least that I can officially close the book on this movie. However, I'm still no closer to figuring why I liked Tag but not this.

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend