Horrible Bosses 2
Directed by: Sean Anders
Written by: Sean Anders & John Morris
Starring: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Jonathan Banks, Lindsay Sloane, Keegan Michael-Key, Kelly Stables
Comedy - 108 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 23 Nov 2014
Written by: Sean Anders & John Morris
Starring: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Jonathan Banks, Lindsay Sloane, Keegan Michael-Key, Kelly Stables
Comedy - 108 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 23 Nov 2014
Did Horrible Bosses fail to cover all its bases in the first film? Was there an area in the nebulous moral dilemmas on whether or not to murder your boss left unexamined? Or, most likely, 2011’s Horrible Bosses made just enough money at the box office new writers and a new director were brought in to make another version of bumbling fools chafing under the thumb of their capitalist overlords. The stakes are actually lower the second time around. Instead of murder, the three 21st century stooges play around with some non-violent kidnapping and ransom, felonies in their own right, but if the guys learned one lesson from last time around, they are not cut out for killing people.
Why are Nick, Kurt, and Dale friends? They have very little in common and take more pleasure in fighting amongst each other than in more pressing matters, including situations such as breaking and entering and attempted kidnapping. They can’t stop messing with other to save their own skins. At one point, Nick (Jason Bateman, 2012's Disconnect) is on lookout in the car and says to himself that he can just walk away. When Kurt (Jason Sudeikis, 2013's Drinking Buddies) and Dale (Charlie Day, 2014's The Lego Movie) are about to get caught breaking and entering, Nick rushes to their aid because he knows they would rat him out to save their own skins. These are not friends; they are enablers, negative influences.
Why are Nick, Kurt, and Dale friends? They have very little in common and take more pleasure in fighting amongst each other than in more pressing matters, including situations such as breaking and entering and attempted kidnapping. They can’t stop messing with other to save their own skins. At one point, Nick (Jason Bateman, 2012's Disconnect) is on lookout in the car and says to himself that he can just walk away. When Kurt (Jason Sudeikis, 2013's Drinking Buddies) and Dale (Charlie Day, 2014's The Lego Movie) are about to get caught breaking and entering, Nick rushes to their aid because he knows they would rat him out to save their own skins. These are not friends; they are enablers, negative influences.
Nick is the straight man, the group’s Moe. No more intelligent than the average fellow, he is down right MENSA material compared to Kurt and Dale. Nick’s dialogue consists mostly of corrections to erroneous facts, reasons why something is completely foolish, and asking himself the same question on repeat, “What am I doing here with these guys?” Due to his role, Nick fails to get his fair share of the punch lines, but in any ensemble comedy, not everyone can be the outrageous jackass.
That role falls to Dale, the group’s Curly. Dale’s lack of common sense is astounding but usually molded in a manner to elicit a laugh from you. His voice immediately goes into high-pitched, squeaky overdrive when he tries to make a point or express frustration, which is about every other line. Dale is a recent father of triplet daughters and is under so much stress to provide for his family a heart attack might do him so good and calm him down.
Kurt is the group’s Larry, the middle child. He is more aware of his surroundings than Dale but feels obligated to toss out one-liners, puns, and quips in any and all situations. He deliberately stirs the pot. In a way, Kurt is Nick’s foil because he knows precisely how to play antagonist to Nick and Dale and then step out of the way. Kurt is not malicious but he is only happy when feathers are ruffled and the rest of the room is on edge.
The gang returns to their personal criminal consultant, Motherfucker "MF" Jones (Jamie Foxx, 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2). Rather than providing advice and know-how, MF acts more as a sounding board, a permission slip signer before the stooges execute their kidnapping plan. Rather than discuss the merits of their plan, MF holds up a rhetorical mirror. The guys play the victims, the downtrodden, Joe six-packs who never catch a break. However, they are also the most hardcore criminals MF knows; attempted murderers who bungled their way to the other side and now are kidnappers in the making. A scalp tattooed ex-con preaches ‘Know thine ownself before casting stones.”
The mark is Bert Hanson (Christoph Waltz, 2012's Django Unchained), an underhanded businessman who is about to bankrupt the guys and steal their moneymaking idea. Bert’s son, Rex (Chris Pine, 2014's Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit), becomes the kidnapping target and lucky for him the moron trio will never get it together enough to effectively carry out their not very well thought out plans. Waltz’s and Pine’s characters are only around to advance the plot; the narrative is carried full force by the three comedians. Even Jennifer Aniston who shows up again with a startling potty mouth and lengthy exposition on the male anatomy is merely window dressing.
Horrible Bosses 2 contains enough laughs to almost not be a cynical rip-off of its first iteration. Yet, the three goofballs bicker so much it overshadows the ha-ha moments. The audience is on the borderline of screaming, “Just shut up already and get on with it!” We have already seen these guys plan multiple murders; kidnapping is second tier. Sequels are supposed to up the ante, not plead down to lesser charges.
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