Universal Pictures
I think Melissa McCarthy is a very talented comedienne, wowing movie audiences with her supporting role in Bridesmaids and her first appearance on Saturday Night Live as well as in her supporting role on Gilmore Girls and lead role on the recently cancelled Mike & Molly. She’s got the chops, no question about it, but she’s fallen into a trap of playing the same slovenly, unpleasant character in almost every movie she makes (and did basically that same character on her second, dreadful SNL hosting gig) that she and her husband Ben Falcone have a hand in. Where she has truly shone is in her three movies with director Paul Feig: the aforementioned Bridesmaids, The Heat and last year’s hilarious Spy. This track record actually gives one hope for the upcoming Ghostbusters remake/reboot/revival … whatever it is.
Which brings us to her latest comedy, The Boss, written by her and her husband (with some assist from first-time writer Steve Mallory, who appeared in the terrible Identity Thief and the so-so Tammy), and directed by her husband as well. Their last project together was Tammy which had some charm by letting McCarthy not stay in that character rut for the entire film, but still fell flat in the laughs department.
In The Boss, McCarthy plays Michelle Darnell (incidentally, the film’s original title), a high-powered, high-strung financial wizard who holds massive “you can get rich” seminars in arenas, complete with T-Pain and back-up dancers. But Darnell got rich from insider trading, which cost her six months in a country club prison and all of her possessions.
Out of prison, Michelle has nowhere to go, so she ends up at the apartment of her formerly harried assistant Claire (Kristin Bell) who grudgingly allows her former nightmare a spot on her sofa, for a limited time only. Michelle somehow bonds with Claire’s daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson), even if she thinks her name is Raquel, and discovers Claire has a talent for baking brownies. After attending one of Rachel’s Dandelions meetings and seeing how much money they make selling cookies (the profits of which go straight to the organization), Michelle convinces Claire that they can start their own organization, sell brownies, make a huge profit and give a percentage back to the girls for college funds.
It seems like a win-win situation for everyone until Michelle’s ex in business and romance, Ronald (aka Renault) shows up, still harboring a grudge for her screwing him out of a promotion twenty-five years earlier. He ratted her out and had her sent to prison in the first place and now he wants to take her new business venture away from her. Will he convince Claire to sell her half to him, or will Michelle just screw it all up on her own?
The Boss doesn’t really offer anything new with the typical rise and fall and rise and uh oh, will she make it plot structure, but it does have some genuinely funny moments sprinkled throughout the film … depending on your tolerance for McCarthy and Falcone’s brand of humor. For this viewer, The Boss is the best of the McCarthy/Falcone collaborations, even with its sometime slow moments.
McCarthy manages to take what could have been another totally unpleasant character and gives her some real heart, especially as she bonds with Rachel and learns to appreciate Claire’s skills. She’s brash, but not off-putting and she’s always dressed to the nines … although I do wish someone would have explained Michelle’s affection for the up-to-her-chin turtleneck. Bell shines in what could have been a totally thankless role as Michelle’s victimized assistant, and she and Anderson really make you root for Claire and Rachel to succeed even when it seems like Michelle is on course to destroy what they had just built.
Dinklage is a bit creepy in his role, but the scene with he and McCarthy sword fighting is pretty funny. Tyler Labine provides a late in the film love interest for Claire, Kathy Bates shows up in an extended cameo as Michelle’s former mentor, Cecily Strong is a sycophantic boss at Claire’s new job, Kristin Schaal is an out-of-her-depths troop leader, and Annie Mumolo has some very funny moments butting heads with Michelle.
Some think the film drags in places, but the only real slow down I felt was in the third act when things begin falling apart with the new business. Other than that, and perhaps because I was going in with such low expectations, I rather enjoyed the film, laughing out loud several times, particularly at one absurd sight gag (that’s already been ruined by the TV ads).
Critics are already sharpening their knives to carve McCarthy and Falcone to pieces regardless of what’s on the screen, and that’s their prerogative. You may or may not enjoy the movie, but if you like McCarthy’s brand of humor you should get more than a few laughs from The Boss.
Did you see The Boss? Tell us what you thought in the comments below.
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