Customer Reviews

Horrible Bosses (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

Perhaps this is partly due to the very vocal and very packed theater I saw Horrible Bosses in, but I have to say that it was one of the best experiences I've had watching a comedy in a long time. This movie is funny, really funny. The writing is vulgar and clever, often at the same time. There is not one weak link in the cast. Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis play the three main guys getting pushed around by their evil bosses. They then hatch a plan to kill each others bosses. Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell play those three evil bosses. You also get other big names like Jamie Foxx, Donald Sutherland and an unexpected cameo from Bob Newhart. Everyone is great, but I have to give a special props to Jennifer Aniston. We finally get to see her in a role that showcases more of her talent than everything else she has done combined. She's funny, sexy and pulls of some nasty lines with ease.

I didn't plan on seeing this today, but I got bored, read some really positive reviews, felt spontaneous and headed to my theater. Best decision I've made in...well today. Forget the latest Hangover and check out one of the best comedies for grown ups in a long time.

I recall reading something a year or two ago about employee dissatisfaction. It commented that it tended to increase during times of economic trouble because employees who felt unhappy in the workplace didn't have the ability to escape. They were stuck with their current jobs, since leaving might mean they couldn't find another one. They also seldom got sympathy from other people who said, "Hey, at least you have a job!" This reached its culmination for me when the place where I worked put up a motivational poster that said, I kid you not, "I should be grateful I have a job." Indeed.

In this time of economic troubles, it's perhaps surprising that a movie like this, where three friends get together to kill each other's horrible bosses, hasn't come along already. Well, it sort of did in 1980 with 9 to 5, but that was a bit different. I don't think I recall Franklin Hart, Jr, shooting anyone.

The movie's title bosses are a corporate president (Kevin Spacey), a cokehead who inherited his father's chemical company (Colin Farrell), and, in one of the funnier performances, a dentist who doubles as a sexual predator (Jennifer Aniston). Their oppressed employees are, respectively, a man who is working hard for a position the corporate president takes for himself (Jason Bateman), a hard-working employee who loved the cokehead's father (Jason Sudekis), and a dental hygienist/sex offender who is recently engaged (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day). One night while mutually commiserating with each other in a bar a plan begins to take shape. What if they killed their bosses? Soon they have a "murder consultant" in the form of one MF Jones (Jamie Foxx), and, with vague memories that confuse Strangers on a Train with Throw Mama from the Train, the make ready to make murder.

I had no great expectations going into this film, but I was surprised at how enjoyable it was and how much I liked it (also surprising? The ten-year-old boy sitting next me. Some parents...). The film is as raunchy as you'd expect any adult-oriented comedy to be, but it uses its raunch to great effect. There's the expected jokes centering around sex and bodily functions, but nothing too extreme.

I was also surprised at how intelligent the movie is. At the start I was coming up with objections to the notion that the characters needed to kill their bosses instead of just get new ones, only to find the screenplay explaining why they couldn't just up and quit. I was also greatly amused when the friends ran into a former pal of theirs who'd lost his last job with Lehman Brothers and since had been forced to resort to offering a "hearty handshake", as it were, to men in bars.

The performances were excellent all around. Spacey in particular seemed to be having a great time playing a deliciously evil man, while Aniston was clearly happy to ditch her good girl image. Day, who is a relative newcomer to film, plays a character not dissimilar to that of Charlie Kelly, proves that he can certainly hold his own on the screen with the big boys (and girl).

The movie is ably directed by Seth Gordon, who keeps the action moving at a decent, but not frenetic, pace. He also knows when to throw in a good Tarantino homage. It's produced by the somewhat infamous Brett Ratner who proves that as a director, he makes for an acceptable producer.

This isn't the best comedy ever, but it was a good time at the movies, and after a summer that's included films like the rather dull Green Lantern and the aggressively boring Transformers: Bark at the Moon, I'll take what I can get.

Interesting formula: Take Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train from way back in the 50s, add in equal amounts of Danny DeVito's 1987 spoof of that movie called Throw Momma From a Train, then mix 'em both with a whopping helping of Hangover humor and that sets the stage for the dark comedy Horrible Bosses. But it wouldn't be the complete movie that it is without the absolutely perfect cast who act their own parts out with perfection, but also exhibit a chemistry together that is unparalleled in any movie that I've recently seen.

And hats off to the writer/producer/director team for putting together a familiar story line that is ultimately pulled off with originality, and most importantly, hilarity from start to finish. The humor is often rude, crude and probably a bit more than the average Jennifer Aniston movie fan bargained for. However I give Aniston a ton of credit for for adding to the success of this film by effortlessly making her character believable, funny and shocking. After all the goody two-shoes roles that I'm used to seeing Aniston in, watching her in a "bad girl" role only made the movie more refreshing and entertaining.

Colin Farrell was another great cast as one of the Horrible Bosses. He's transformed into a pot-bellied, balding drug addict and almost unrecognizable a la Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder. Farrell is Jason Sudeikis' boss. Kevin Spacey is Jason Bateman's boss, and Spacey is a natural crass meanie. Then Anistion is a the boss of a comical Charlie Day. The individual bosses deal out their own styles of harassment on the job and it's all darkly hysterical. So the three guys are given the notion that they could take each other's bosses out to make their lives easier. The events following this brainstorm of an idea are equally dark and laugh out loud funny.

If you're looking for laughs you'll find them o'plenty in Horrible Bosses. Perhaps over the top at times (but that's what the movie is going for), Horrible Bosses is one of the best movies that I've seen in 2011.

Quick review of the movie - my wife and I loved it, absolutely hillarious!

We bought this addition because the packaging clearly says Digital Copy. A digital copy it is not! You can stream it to a computer, iPhone, etc. after a laborious process, but you have to have WIFI or cell coverage. So much for watching a movie on the plane!

As this was the first Ultraviolet movie we purchased, I consider it false advertising. At least more recent releases now display Ultraviolet instead of Digital Copy on the top bar of the packaging. A type of packaging I will avoid from now on!

Dvd/bluray works flawless but do not buy this for the digital copy unless you want to sign up for 3 accounts and still not have a format that can be put on your ipod. Ultra violet is terrible.

With this many stars in a movie..you know it is going to be good. Fast paced, funny, and over the top from beginning to end. I love Jason Bateman because he is so cute, but performers like Aniston and Colin Farell shine as well. Each man has a funny issue with his boss, and they get into hilarious hijinks to try to kill them. Jamie Foxx is a treat as a "hitman," that they meet in a bar. If you like funny movies like Hangover and Change Up, you will LOVE THIS MOVIE. A+++++++

IF YOU HAVE AN APPLE PRODUCT AND WISH TO VIEW THE MOVIE ON SUCH DEVICE, GOOD LUCK!!!! DO NOT PURCHASE THIS COMBO PACK. i tired effortlessly before reading the reviews to get this movie to sync to my iPad or hell just to get it to my itunes library. the whole reason i shelled out the extra $6; which is truely not a lot, was to be able to watch it wherever i take my iPad, will be returning mine tomorrow and getting just the regular blu-ray. will never again trust any packaging that says Ultra Violet Digital Copy!!!!

The most successful black comedy since 1990's "The War of The Roses", "Horrible Bosses" is simply one of the funniest films I have ever seen. The plot deals with three best friends who share one element in common: they all have the boss from hell. The trio decide they have had enough and attempt a plot to kill their nasty employers by hiring a hitman.

What makes the movie work is the hilarious script and the wonderful acting of the leads and the excellent supporting cast. Jason Bateman is great to look at (as always), Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell (I actually didn't recognize him), and Jamie Fox give memorable performances, but for me the gem in this movie is the beautiful Jennifer Aniston. She plays a dentist who is nothing short of a sex maniac and is determined to bed her male dental assistant. Jennifer's portrayal borders on a combination of Joan Crawford/Bette Davis/Annie Wilkes/ and Alexis Carrington all rolled into one. Picture the biggest bitch you have ever seen portrayed in movies or television, multiply it by ten and you have this character. Aniston actually dyed her hair black for the role and the language that comes out of her mouth is similar to a sailor's who has been at sea for a year. Absolutely hilarious!

"Horrible Bosses" was a certified hit making over $200,000,000 at the box office and there is talk there will be a sequel.

Hilarious is the only word that describes this movie. Ten times better then Hangover. Great movie to watch over and over again.

When I saw Horrible Bosses at the movies earlier this year, I laughed so hard, my face hurt. I am happy to say it is just as funny watching it at home. You forget so many of the great scenes, and some of the one-liners that were missed because we were still laughing at an earlier bit. Easily the funniest film I have seen since the 40-Year-Old Virgin. And just as inappropriate, if not more. Jason Sudeikis is my favorite new comedic actor (see also Hall Pass and you'll know him from Saturday Night Live). Jason Bateman is always a riot and much funnier in this than The Change-Up (also saw that at the movies, and while it had its moments, was a big let down). Those of you who already watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will be happy to find Charlie Day at his high-pitched zaniest. As for the Horrible Bosses themselves, anyone who has ever seen Swimming with Sharks will already know Kevin Spacey plays the perfect boss from hell. He does the unthinkable by actually topping THAT performance here. Colin Ferrell is great as the coked out, balding, low-life son of Jason Sudeikis' wonderful boss, Donald Sutherland. And Jennifer Aniston, my shining little star, THIS is a game changing role for her if ever there was one. Now here's hoping she gets meatier roles based on this turn. Yes, this movie is rude, crude and totally inappropriate...and I LIKE it that way. This film delivers effortlessly while many other movies these days are a let down and try way too hard...only to have the jokes fall flat (see my review of Tropic Thunder and the backlash I have gotten over that, mainly by those with only an 8-year-old's sense of humor who probably would not get most of the jokes on Family Guy). Also on hand in this film, the always welcome Jamie Foxx, playing a character named M*****F***** Jones -- you got to love that! And Julie Bowen from Modern Family as Kevin Spacey's hot wife.
This version (I bought new off ebay) has the theatrical version, the Blu-ray Totally Inappropriate Version (with 8 minutes of extra footage) and the Digital version, packed with extras such as My Least Favorite Career (where cast discusses their worst jobs ever), Surviving a Horrible Boss, Being Mean is So Much Fun (the horrible bosses discuss their fun playing mean), Deleted Scenes and Making of the Horrible Bosses soundtrack.