My Review of Horrible Bosses, As A Collage of Other Reviews

July 26, 2011 by 1 Comment

Dear CF,

I saw Horrible Bosses. The concept: Hitchcock Movie Staffed by the Cast of Friends.

The movie was the equivalent of Cheetos: not terrible, kind of unsatisfying, with a dusting of flavored plastic. This is more an overview of the “Fresh” reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, a post that exists only because I glanced at RT to see how the movie fared. The pull-out quotes they display on the front page say it all in an underwhelmed, grudging sort of way, not unlike Bridesmaids‘ “Chick Flicks Don’t Have To Suck!” ad campaign.

(Also, since the movie lifted most of its good material from Arrested Development and Office Space and Strangers on A Train and Don’t Throw Momma From the Train, I thought it was fitting to “collage” my impressions instead of actually writing them.)

13. “The leads, and the bosses, provide fleeting pleasures.” –Rob Gonsalves

12. “For something like Horrible Bosses to sparkle, the actors have to shine… and shine they do.” –James Berardinelli

11. “The skilled comedian Bateman has the best moments, underplaying when all about him are going over the top.” –Christopher Tookey*

10.  “There’s enough comedic firepower in Seth Gordon’s film to carry you over the rough patches.” –Bill Goodykoontz

9. “What’s right about Horrible Bosses is less easy to identify, but it comes down to something like esprit de corps.” –Liam Lacey

8. “It’s not very tightly plotted or precisely scripted but the three leads have lots of obvious camaraderie and energy together.” –David Sexton

7.  “Their conspiracy leads in all sorts of unexpected directions in this crowd-pleasing, occasionally funny farce.”  –J.R. Jones

6. “If you’re looking for a bit of undemanding fun with a few really good laughs, you could do a lot worse than this.” –Film4

5. “Gordon has the good sense to simply step aside here, letting his cast goof around and bounce off of one another like so many rubber balls.” –Jeffrey M. Anderson

4. “A popcorn comedy you shouldn’t be ashamed of wanting to see.” –Sam Bathe

3. “Horrible Bosses makes more right steps than wrong ones.” –Joshua Staines

2. “It offers a reminder that adherence to formula may not be among the signal virtues of comedy, but … it’s no great vice either.” –Christopher Orr

1. “Fortunately, the actors rise above the script.” –Jason Best

To reiterate: those were the positive reviews.

Fondly,

M

*(Mr. Millicent pointed out that this one sounded like the movie version of Kipling’s “If”)

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One Response to My Review of Horrible Bosses, As A Collage of Other Reviews

  1. Pingback: Horrible Bosses in 6 Thoughts « Millicent and Carla Fran

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