‘Horrible Bosses’ sequel has fleeting moments of funny
While it never drifted over into the truly nasty territory promised by its title, “Horrible Bosses” was a safely “naughty” crowd-pleaser, much of it due to the easygoing rapport of its leads - Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day.
It struck a chord among filmgoers to the tune of $200 million, and, as often dictated by the laws of box office physics, it must beget a sequel, regardless of the seeming finality of the first film.
But atypical for a commercial sequel, it does not offer the sense of “more-ness” that often marks such endeavors. When the filmmakers are given a larger budget with which to play, the situations on screen are altered to reflect it - whether it’s an exotic location shift, expanding cast, outrageous predicaments, or pyrotechnics.
A laborious car-chase sequence aside, the proceedings of “Horrible Bosses 2” feel slighter in every respect. But where this reduction is most notable is in the jokes, which always feel as though they were on the cusp of something much funnier than what ended up in the final cut.
What does remain is the rapport shared by our three heroes. They are all purposefully one-note: Bateman’s Nick is perpetually exasperated, Day’s Dale is the squeaky spaz, and Sudeikis’s Kurt is the walking erection. On more than one occasion, they morph into little more than updated Three Stooges, complete with random slap-fights. It’s actually to the film’s benefit that we don’t have to delve any further into their characters’ development (though Dale is now married with triplets), as their shared chemistry is really the thrust of the film.
It’s the rest of the film that feels as though it’s just shuffling around until the conclusion. The three have decided to go into business for themselves with the Shower Buddy, a device that catches the eye of a slimy investor and his son (played by Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine, respectively). When the clueless trio are duped out of their deal, they devise a typically dubious scheme to make the money back while sticking it to the pair.
It all goes afoul, as expected, but the filmmakers (original director Seth Gordon has been replaced by Sean Anders, who gave us the cinematic boil known as “That’s My Boy”) find ways to shoehorn original supporting characters throughout. Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Jamie Foxx all reprise their roles to much lesser effect this time.
The only true standout here is Pine as the spoiled-brat son with schemes of his own. Ever since he took the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise, he’s been mainly viewed in action-hero mode (having recently tried to reboot the Tom Clancy “Jack Ryan” series). But here he’s hilariously unhinged in all the best possible ways.
Otherwise, there are fleeting moments of funny, most of which are call-backs to the original. But, as evidenced by the end-credit blooper reel, it seems as though there was more fun in making the film than there was in actually viewing it.
Chances are good that when the Blu-Ray release rolls around, there will be a second disc that will pack a lot more humor in its outtakes than anything found in the “Horrible Bosses 2” runtime.
