Review: THE BOSS is a Half-Baked Film That Doesn't Work

Let me start out by saying I'm rooting for Melissa McCarthy. She seems like a genuinely cool person and a great role model. I was even quick to defend the Ghostbusters reboot because I'm all for women in Hollywood breaking the mold. Which is why I thought I'd give her latest venture, The Boss, a fair chance. This is the second time McCarthy and her husband, Ben Falcone, have co-written a screenplay together, the first being Tammy. I don't know exactly what it is that Falcone and McCarthy are trying to do here, but it isn't working. Did anyone tell them they're not supposed to shoot the first draft of a script?

The Boss stars Melissa McCarthy as Michelle Darnell, a powerful business mogul who's become a financial success by screwing people over. When a scorned ex-lover (Peter Dinklage) turns her in for insider trading, Michelle is sent to prison and all of her assets are seized. Upon her release and with nowhere to go, she moves in with her former assistant, Claire (played by Kristen Bell) and her daughter Rachel. Non-hilarity ensues as Michelle tries to work her way back to the top while adapting to life in the tiny apartment of a hard-working, single mom. With the help of Claire and Rachel, Michelle soon cooks up a plan that will put her back on top. But old habits die hard, and Michelle has to choose between her old selfish ways and her new pseudo-family.

If this plot sounds cliche to you, it's because it is. I don't mind watching a movie with an old, tired plot, but it's got to be executed well, and this was not. It wasn't even really that funny! I laughed a few times, and by that I mean a single, "Ha!" escaped my lips, more out of obligation than sincerity. The pacing was inconsistent at best. It felt like the story was written around the jokes (if you can call them that), rather than jokes being written into the story.

The characters were all underdeveloped. Michelle Darnell was a half-baked character who was supposed to be this eccentric bitch, but came off more like my aunt Joan: someone whose presence makes you mildly uncomfortable because she's a little out of touch with reality and who probably wears too much perfume. This was an empty comedy that decided at the very last minute to try and make the audience feel something, but by then it was too late. We were already dead inside from watching Kristen Bell and Melissa McCarthy paddle each other's boobs. With their clothes on.

Maybe I was too optimistic. But I really thought this could at least be a pretty funny movie. Maybe I thought, "Hey, Bridesmaids was funny. Even Spy had some good laughs. Maybe this one won't be so bad." But I was so very wrong. If you do decide to see this movie, stay for the blooper reel during the end credits. They're funnier than the actual movie.

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