As with many comedians that stick primarily to the one-track comedy route, there is no doubt that they’ll have some terrible movies. It’s just a fact of life. Another thing to worry about when you’re churning out films is if your schtick will start falling flat. Melissa McCarthy has already hit the first bump in the comedic actor’s road and now seems to be coming close to the second. The busy actress is set to release a new comedy this weekend titled The Boss. Does it offer a little redemption or is it another dud that you can skip?
When Michelle Darnell (McCarthy), a cutthroat and talented business woman, is sent to prison for insider trading, she must start pioneering again from scratch if she ever wants to find herself on the world’s wealthiest woman list. After screwing too many people over, she’s left stranded and forced to stay with her former assistant Claire (Kristen Bell). When she discovers Claire’s amazing brownies, she forms a partnership with her and utilizes Claire’s daughter’s network of friends and Dandelions to form a “girl scout-like” empire to sell Brownies to the masses.
The Boss plays out exactly as you’d expect it to. It’s the story of someone who views people as a tool, a means to an end, who will then cut them out if she sees fit. The problem of family and relationships becomes a factor and that’s when the major “conflict” in the film arises. Naturally, you can see it coming from a mile away.
The Boss was directed and co-written by Ben Falcone, McCarthy’s husband and the man behind the disastrous and terrible comedy, Tammy. While not nearly the train wreck that film was, The Boss isn’t particularly good. Yes, it has plenty of over-the-top and ridiculous dialogue, giving McCarthy some redemption in the hard-R category, but not every physical gag plays well and some of the running jokes grow stale fairly quickly.
That being said, McCarthy has her moments. There are a few very funny scenes but it’s all going to depend on your humor and the people you are watching it with. I felt the crowd was pretty divided at my screening and only a few people were constantly laughing throughout. Kristen Bell didn’t really add much as far as humor goes, she was supposed to be the boring, nice, level headed person. Thankfully, appearances by Peter Dinklage and Tyler Labine added a surprising amount of laughs, Dinklage especially. His character Renault was Michelle’s former lover and business adversary who believed in the way of the samurais. Yes, Tyrion was an eccentric samurai businessman that made sweet, sweet love to Michelle.
While people seemed to love Spy, I wasn’t one of them. In fact, I think I may have enjoyed this one more for the simple fact that it was shorter. Fun comedies don’t need to be long and The Boss, while a little much at times, at least nailed the run time aspect part down. This wouldn’t be a film I’d put on my must-see list but if you want something mindless to chuckle at then feel free to give it a go. If you’re looking for something with a little but more substance, I’d suggest saving your money and seeing Demolition instead.
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