Movie review: Horrible Bosses

The film features a star-studded cast, but it maximises juvenile humour and doesn't quite work.

Horrible Bosses
Director: Seth Gordon
Starring: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell
***

A star-studded cast takes to the screen for this dark comedy about three disgruntled employees (Bateman, Day and Sudeikis) who decide the only way to get from under the thumb of their tyrannical bosses is to murder them.

After consulting a hit man (Jamie Foxx), they agree to kill each other's bosses - an aggressive maneater (Aniston), a sneaky chemical company boss (Farrell) and a back-stabbing manipulator (Spacey).

The trio find the murders harder to execute than they thought, and their efforts gradually lead them into more and more trouble. A well-made comedy for fans of films such as Bad Santa, Horrible Bosses maximises the juvenile humour and the comedy timing of its three leads, who bounce off of each other well.

Out of the three bosses only Farrell truly shines, delivering an over-the-top performance that manages to be both outrageous and hilarious. Although Aniston gives her all, she is never truly believable in the role, while Spacey is too reminiscent of his character in Swimming with Sharks (perhaps the ultimate "horrible boss") to be anything but diminished by comparison.

Nevertheless, this is a fun film that delivers all that the scandalous trailer promised.