Review of The Boss (2016) by Leon B — 28 Nov 2016

Review:

When this film started, I must admit I couldn't stop laughing but once it settles down, the jokes become more silly than funny. Melissa McCarthy plays Michelle Darnell, whose an extremely successful business woman with ruthless business methods. After growing up in a orphanage, and constantly sent back by her adopted parents, Ida Marquette (Kathy Bates), takes her under her wing, and shows her how to succeed in business, without caring about her peers, or anyone that surrounds her. Her right-hand girl, Claire (Kristen Bell), puts up with her selfish attitude so she can have money for her young daughter, Rachel (Ella Anderson), and pay to live in her small apartment. When one of Michelle's business deals goes wrong, due to her archenemy and ex-lover Renault (Peter Dinklage), Michelle turns to Claire for help, even though she has taken on a degrading office job to pay her bills. Whilst under her roof, Michelle finds it hard to ditch her bad habits but once she tastes Claire's delicious brownies, business alarm bells start to ring in her head. There are some touching moments in the movie and I did rewind the bed and rapping scenes a couple of times but the rest of the film seemed like a bunch of one-liners with Kristen Bell being the kill joy. Its a shame that Michelle's bodyguard, Tito (Cedric Yarbrough) exited the movie so early because I liked the banter between him and Michelle. Anyway, it's a watchable movie with a few funny scenes but the unrealistic plot became a bit silly after a while. Watchable!

Round-Up:

Melissa McCarthy, 46, is definitely becoming a certified, bankable star, who has hit the big time since her cameo role in Bridesmaids in 2011. With popular movies like Identity Thief, The Heat, the funny St. Vincent, Tammy, Spy and Ghostbusters in her portfolio, her quick rise to stardom, and dramatic weight lose, is definitely a huge achievement for the popular star. This movie was written and directed by Ben Falcone, 43, who has been married to Melissa McCarthy for some time, and also directed Tammy, which also starred McCarthy in the leading role. Although he has only directed 2 movies in his career, he has had small roles in his wife's movies and a few TV series. He didn't really push McCarthy to the limit in this movie, and we have all seen her play this type of role before but it wasn't bad for his second project. Personally, I was hoping for a bit more, after enjoying Spy so much, and after watching the movies outtakes, it would have been much better with Dave Bautista as her nemesis at school, but the director must have had his reasons to change at the last minute. Anyway, it's light-hearted fun with a decent plot but I doubt that McCarthy will be remembered for her performance.

Budget: $29million.

Worldwide Gross: $79million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their comedies, starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, Tyler Labine, Kathy Bates, Margo Martindale, Cecily Strong and Dax Shepard. 4/10.