Director: Ben Falcone
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, Ella Anderson, Tyler Labine, Kathy Bates, Cecily Strong, Kristen Schaal, Timothy Simons, Annie Mumolo, Margo Martindale
Running Time: 99 mins
Rating: 15
Release Date: June 10th, 2016
An early scene in THE BOSS tells you everything you need to know about Melissa McCarthy‘s latest comedic offering; her character Michelle Darnell lifted down onto a stage while she rides a mechanical Phoenix that explodes with fireworks. She then proceeds to bust out an impressive rap, backed by a more than happy T-pain and ends it all in a stream of colorful, explosive fireworks. It’s loud but entertaining and most of all you can’t shake the feeling that McCarthy is better than all of it. In fact, the whole cast is better than the material given here.
McCarthy stars as Michelle Darnell, a rich and successful self made business women who distances herself from friends, family and other cliches. After going to prison for insider trading, she lands on the couch of her old assistant, Kristen Bell. Soon, she realizes that Bell can make one hell of a brownie and they both decide to venture out and start their own baked goods business. It’s simplistic but works, allowing Bell’s perfect straight man act to bounce off of McCarthy’s broad character. They’re a solid comedic double act, with a lot of the laughs coming from the two interacting with each other or Bell just reacting to the horrible things that McCarthy does or says. One particular conversation about Bell and her dress sense as she prepares for a date is topped off by McCarthy riffing on Bell’s choice of jumper, McCarthy landing quick joke after joke that’s better than any written joke in the script.
The middle stretch of the film largely focuses on McCarthy and Bell as they put together their business, complete with communist looking badges and a showdown with a rival Girl Scout group. At its most fun here, the film doubles down on McCarthy’s inspired sense of rage, as Darnell spouts of one liners at a particularly troublesome mum who doesn’t take kindly to Darnell pushing in on her turf. At her best when making others look worse than her, Darnell’s fierce competition with a Girl Scouts mother shows the film at its best and worst, as its juvenile sense of humour slowly wears thin. The script seems to believe that having well structured jokes equals lots of swearing.
When the third act arrives, the film becomes bogged down by an unnecessary plot involving Peter Dinklage as a former lover of Michelle’s, who’s hell bent on getting revenge. The film grinds to a halt as it indulges in a sword fight between Dinklage and McCarthy (way less fun then it sounds) and becomes a half hearted heist film, as they plan to break into his office and steal something from him. It’s random in the worst kind of way, a strange ending to a film that is never as funny as the talent that surrounds it.Â
Verdict
