Review by Adam Winn, Staff writer
As one of Hollywood’s newest “it” women, Melissa McCarthy has appeared in several comedies, and her newly released film, “The Boss,” feels like a never-ending, gruesome “Saturday Night Live” skit, packed with a few gut-wrenching comedic moments.
With that said, if the audience goes in with no expectations and just wants to watch nothing more than an average vulgar comedy, then there’s a decent chance they’ll find it enjoyable. When it boils down to it though, “The Boss,” at its core, is a disorganized letdown that not even McCarthy’s witty performance could save.
The plot tells the story of the wealthy and ruthless businesswoman, Michelle Darnell (Melissa McCarthy), who gets sold out to the authorities by one of her ex-lovers, Renault (Peter Dinklage), for insider trading. After serving her four-month prison sentence, she is released only to find out that all of her assets have been seized and sold off.
She then turns to her former assistant Claire (Kristen Bell), who reluctantly agrees to let Michelle crash on her couch. After coming up with a new idea she thinks will help gain her wealth back, she, Claire and Claire’s daughter, Rachel, set out on a mission to reinvent her tarnished brand.
First off, the storyline has plot holes so big, the viewer could park a car in them. One instance is with the character Ida Marquette, played by veteran actress Kathy Bates. Marquette is introduced near the beginning of the film, appears in one other additional scene and then never reappears again. Is her role just meant to be a cameo appearance or did the script writers just not know what to do with her character?
The same thing happened with Michelle’s bodyguard, Tito (Cedric Yarbrough). The character is introduced at the beginning of the story and appears to be an important supporting role and then just disappears without a trace.
The film also goes through several different storylines, leaving the viewer wondering if the movie itself doesn’t know what direction it’s going. One minute, Darnell attempts to save her destroyed career. The next, she is trying to get Claire to hookup with one of her new coworkers.
The overall plot doesn’t flow smoothly and gives off the feeling that it was written by a high school girl and then given to a male comedian who added in all the crude comedy.
Interactions between the characters were at times awkward and uncomfortable, as well. It’s hard to tell if it was the actors’ fault or if it was due to lazy scriptwriting. It was probably the latter.
Conversely, the movie did contain some enjoyable and hilarious moments. McCarthy’s comedic timing and charisma make the film a lot funnier than it would have been if
another actress played the lead role. There were times when some of the jokes fell flat, but there were numerous occasions that her character had the audience on the edge of their seats holding back laughter.
“The Boss” does contain sporadic entertaining moments, but for the most part, it is a jumbled comedic train wreck with a poorly written plot. Audiences would be better off saving themselves the time and money and just waiting until this one hits Redbox in the next few months.