“Horrible Bosses 2”– Movie Review

 

This week in my movie class, we saw the comedy “Horrible Bosses 2”, starring Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis. 

Synopsis

When three friends start their own business, they are swindled out of their company by a dishonest investor – but after an attempted kidnapping, will their poorly-planned scheme earn them the revenge they seek?

Story

Nick, Kurt and Dale (Bateman, Sudeikis and Day) have finally had it with working for other people:  they’ve finally quit their jobs in order to start their own business manufacturing Dale’s invention, The Shower Buddy – a device that gives the user a thorough and expedient washing.  Not the most business-savvy types – and seemingly lacking an entrepreneurial bone in their body – the three men promote their new idea in order to get venture capitalists interested in their endeavor.  The men think they’ve found the angel they’ve been looking for when they are contacted by a top executive at a major company (Christoph Waltz). 

Meeting with the executive, they are given what initially appears to be a generous offer of a large order in their device in addition to assistance in securing a business loan that will help them grow their company.  At the last minute, however, the executive pulls the plug on the deal, which results in the men losing ownership of the company they started.  Humiliated and furious, the group come up with an idea to try to reclaim at least some of their money:  they will kidnap Rex (Chris Pine), the executive’s son, and collect a tidy ransom in exchange for his safe return. 

Unfortunately for them, the kidnapping plot goes hopelessly awry; when Rex learns of the scheme, it gives him an idea for how to get back at the father with whom he’s long had a difficult relationship.  Rex offers to collaborate with the trio on the plan and split the ransom with them; desperate and still with nothing to show for their efforts, they reluctantly agree to allow Rex to join them.  But as they proceed, the men begin to suspect that Rex’s erratic behavior will cause their new plan to fail just as badly.  Finally, when it seems that Rex has double-crossed them, will these three wind up doing time or will they be able to avoid arrest and have the truth about Rex revealed to the police?   

Review

Nick, Kurt and Dale from “Horrible Bosses 2” may be the most imbecilic three men to star in the same film since The Three Stooges; depending on your opinion of The Three Stooges, that may or may not be a good thing. What’s promising about “Horrible Bosses 2” is the fact that there are a few good laughs and some of the best characters from the original movie – namely M-F Jones (Jamie Foxx), Dave (Kevin Spacey) and Julia (Jennifer Aniston) – all reappear in the sequel, to varying degrees.  Arguably the funniest character from the first film, Aniston’s Julia supplies some of the biggest and most raucous laughs from her bawdy antics. 

For those that never saw the first “Horrible Bosses”, this may very well be a pleasant find – however, there were quite a few members of the class that walked out on this movie long before it was over (the outrageous humor certainly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea).  On the other hand, if you were a fan of the previous installment, this sequel may prove something of a disappointment; the favorite characters – especially Aniston as the horny dentist – aren’t in this as much as the first film, and as a consequence, it isn’t quite as funny.  Also, the plot in this one isn’t quite as clever as in the first and sometimes feels a bit convoluted; in some ways, it feels as though the filmmakers wanted to make a carbon copy of the first “Horrible Bosses”, especially when it came to the resolution of the story.

While “Horrible Bosses 2” certainly isn’t terrible, it doesn’t quite stand up to the original; you may want to hold off on seeing this in the theaters unless you’re looking to escape the family during the holiday (it opens around Thanksgiving); renting it might be a better option – it’s definitely got some entertainment value, but nothing worth rushing out at your earliest opportunity.  The possibility of another sequel may depend on the success of this movie; although that may not be in the cards, if it does happen, hopefully the next one will focus on Aniston’s hilarious character.