But how dumb is a movie when clever quips fly, physical humor gooses your inner child, and the plot turns like a pretzel epidemic? Comic energy and synergy sparkle among the three main guys (Justin Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis), as they engage in a plot too outrageous (I hope) too be amoral: they hatch plans to kill their three bosses (Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey), all nasty (and hysterical) people in their own ways. Jamie Foxx is also superb in a supporting, comic vein.
If you do decide to go, pay attention during the surprise party toward the end. Keep your eyes open for Kevin Spacey's entrance.
Not much is more subjective than humor, so I feel out on a limb with this one, especially if you’re going in the evening and paying full price. And do be warned, gutter talk is plentiful, though not nearly so invasive as it was in the Hangover movies, for example. But if you don’t laugh fairly hard at least six times (I predict fifteen if you count mere chuckles and chortles as well as wheezy heehaws--fifteen, I say, and I don't even know you) . . . if you don’t laugh at this one, one of us needs to see a specialist, and I don't mean a podiatrist. Not that there's anything wrong with podiatry. (Don't worry, the movie quips are better than that).
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13 comments:
Dear Dr Cinema,
Lately I'm having issues with movies, I watch something everyone has been raving about and go, "Meh.". I hated The Hangover and Inception was boring, in fact I thought Hellboy II was better. Is there a cure for what ails me? Will Horrible Bosses really make me laugh or wish I had stayed at home and taken pictures of my rabbit (he's running for President in 2012 by the way)?
Puzzled
Let me head you in the way of a comedy that's not. A biography/documentary that makes you rather live with the bones down in the Ozarks
The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. It all starts with the patriarch D Ray White
Streaming on Netflix, Yay!
Dear Puzzled,
How many times do I have to shill for The Trip?
Signed,
I don't know why I bother
PS: PA: How do you find these things.
PPS: Banjo, I just have a feeling that movie would make me wish I'd taken pictures of Paula's rabbit.
Dear Hiker,
Shill away, Merrill. The Trip didn't play here and it's in my Saved queue on Netflix. What I'm wondering is how to fulfill my cinematic needs in the meantime.
Puzzled
ha, a friend of mine saw it and said it was good too, though many of the zingers were given away in the previews.
We never go to the theater anymore. It's just too crowded!
btw have you seen Deadwood? It's great. Terribly underrated when it was on the air. We're really into Breaking Bad as well.
Paula, I don't know, but if you go, choose a cheap matinee. And you must eat movie popcorn. It's good, and it's sinful in calories as well as dollars, and we all thrill during a sin.
Didn't we just have a wabbit in White House for 8 LONG years? Or was that a different creature?
PA, did you get that here? I got it from Ohio River Life, maybe a year ago and posted on it at least once. I agree, it's a wonder--laugh and shiver in the same moment.
AH, yes to The Trip. I meant to get to it here. Very fine. Did you think the last couple of minutes were OK, with him in his apartment?
Kitty, I never go in the evening. Matinees are cheaper and rarely more than 10% full. Of course, this is the crab apple, not the Big Apple. I was hooked on Deadwood. Having trouble with Breaking Bad--finding each scene too long and too painful.
Happy to see a new season of Larry David beginning.
Took a recent bus trip and saw a run of stupid movies. They're out there.
I thought the last two minutes were the weakest, and perhaps self-indulgent. But that's only two minutes.
The rest of it-- profound, lightly. The jealousy one friend can feel towards another if they share similar talents. And whether friendship isn't more a case of longevity, sticking it out, rather than a deep spiritual connection.
The way those with a genetic predisposition towards a sunny outlook on life have an easier path through the world. And can better afford generosity.
And what happens when we turn our personal charm into a form of currency. The return on investment.
I could go on and on.
Birdman, oh yeah. Saw Friends with Benefits yesterday, just to get out of the house and out of the heat, both at a convenient time. Ugh. It's not worth a review, except to be awed again at how under-recognized Richard Jenkins is. A tamer Jenna Elfman (sp?) was good too. Script abysmal.
AH, do go on if you care to. So far, I think all your points are 4-star, either obviously true or thought-provoking. I found that examples of yes, no, and maybe leap to mind for each. And yes, they ARE in the movie.
By the way, I'm not even sure I disliked the last 2 minutes, but it felt like another key and made me cock my head like the RCA pooch in days of yore.
No. I do recall a b and w clogging video.
I discovered this guy by chance when NETFLIk recommended I'd like the movie "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia" He was the dead patriarch of a family that absolutely embraced every stereotype you've ever had about West Virginia. They, the Whites, are hideous people. I pursued u-tube to see who the outlaw father was.
PA, I found it gripping. I guess because it's closer to my upbringing than urban poverty and shenanigans are. Also, rural poverty gets less attention, it seems. Is there a difference between the White family and an urban gang?
yes, better teeth ; )
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