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Horrible Bosses
By Sr. Rose Pacatte, F.S.P.
Source: AmericanCatholic.org
Nick (Jason Bateman) says that his grandmother came to this
country with $20.00 in her pocket and she refused to take guff (he used another word) from anyone. She died
with $2,000.00 because she refused to take any guff from anyone. Nick had been
working for a company president, a suspected psychopath Dave Harken (Kevin
Spacey) for eight years and he took guff so he could get promoted to the vice
president of the company. Dave lead him on and on and then at a corporate
meeting announced that he was appointing himself vice president, too, and
publically humiliates Nick at the same
time.
Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) is an accountant and the heir apparent
to take over as the president of the company rather than the owner Jack’s
(Donald Sutherland) crack-addicted, mean and shiftless son, Bobby (Colin
Farrell). But Jack has a heart attack and dies before the paperwork is done and
Bobby threatens to fire Kurt if he doesn’t fire overweight people and the
handicapped.
Charlie is a dental technician who just became engaged. He
is a registered sex offender but as he explains continually throughout the
film, he was relieving himself outside a bar in a school playground at
midnight; no one was there. He works for the sex-addled Dr. Julia Harris
(Jennifer Anniston) who tries to blackmail him into having sex and betraying
his fiancé.
The three friends decide to get rid of their bosses and
think they are hiring a bona fide hit man, Jones (Jamie Foxx), who had done ten
years in prison and pay him $5,000.00. Then he tells them he is now a
consultant and they have to do the deed themselves.
This is a crude, gross movie with so much bad language and
behavior that an airplane version would probably only last five minutes.
Unfortunately it is very funny, especially the way the Jamie Foxx character,
Jones, (I am unable to use his full name here) consults by way of referring to
what characters do in motion pictures old and more current.
This is a bit of a spoiler but the
funniest moment to me was toward the end when Jones tells these three stooges
(downgraded for the 21st century) that he never murdered anyone.
They ask him what he had gone to prison for. “Did you see that movie ‘Snow
Falling on Cedars’?” A couple of the guys nod. “Yeah, the cops caught me taping
it in the theater and got me on video piracy.” The men cannot believe that
Jones went to prison “for pirating an Ethan Hawke movie!”
“Horrible Bosses” is not as
horrible as some of the puerile movies made for a male audience, but
almost. If there is anything worthwhile
to take away from this crudely indulgent film by four accomplished television
comedians (I am including Jennifer Anniston here), is that bullying goes on in
the workplace and the abuse of power, while often absurd and incomprehensible,
can cause real suffering. Bullying always has consequences.
Though we already knew this going
in, taking the criminal route to solve your problems is not a good idea,
either.
It took four people to come up
with this story and write it. With few
exceptions, more than two credited writers on any production is almost always a
sign that the movie is not worth anyone’s time.
Voila’.
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