Horrible Bosses: Good for a few laughs

Nick, Dale and Kurt are all miserable at their jobs thanks in large part to their bosses. One night, after drinking heavily, they come up with a plan to eliminate them. They even go so far as to hire a murder consultant to help them go through with the evil deeds, but will they?

Taking its cue from the Alfred Hitchcock classic Strangers on a Train (or the Danny DeVito classic Throw Mama from the Train if you believe Dale), Horrible Bosses attempted to give the audience a comedic look at three guys trying to enact the ultimate scenario for those people that cannot stand their boss. Most of the laughs in the film were provided by those horrible bosses, which included Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell (who did not get nearly enough screen time as Kurt's cracked out boss Bobby) and Jennifer Aniston. Aniston in particular was hilarious as Dale's maneater of a boss Julia for the character was so unlike the "good girl" character she usually plays that every nasty comment that came out of her mouth (and trust me, there were a lot of them) was all the more shocking and funny. Jason Bateman and Charlie Day pitched in with some comedic gems of their own (Jason Sudeikis was just as slimy and unlikable as his boss Farrell) but the film failed to be anything more than a mean-spirited comedy with little to offer beyond its last gross-out gag or sexually charged line from Aniston.

This is not a bad thing, sometimes it's nice to just turn off one's mind and giggle at the insanity happening on screen but if you are looking for a comedy with layers and depth, Horrible Bosses is not the film for you.

Grade: C 

Waiting: Do not mess with your waiter or waitress!

Ah the gross-out comedy, some say it peaked with the first American Pie in 1999 and every imitator that was released since then (including all the American Pie sequels) pales in comparison to that ground breaking film. But there are a few gross-out comedies out there which offer more than another inter-pastery erotic moment or one more perky foreign exchange student who likes nerds, one of which is Waiting.

Dean works with a group of colorful characters at a restaurant called Shenanigan’s. But when he gets offered an assistant manager position there he questions whether he should take the position, or pursue something else with his life.

The guy who provided the most laughs in this clever comedy was Ryan Reynolds as the cool, smarmy waiter Monty. With a witty retort for every situation, he was the standout in a talented ensemble cast. An while the movie could have done without some of the characters, specifically T-Dog and Nick, for they never contributed anything to the film as a whole and frankly they were irritating (hasn’t the faux white boy gangsta stereotype been done enough already?) what saved it from being just another in the growing line of gross-out comedies was Dean’s (played by Justin Long) story. It was one that most young people deal with (the desire to do something more with their lives) on a regular basis. This kept the film grounded in some reality, instead of being concerned strictly with making the audience squirm everytime “the game” was played by the male employees. Waiting was a treat for those people who work in the food service industry as well as those of us who rely on them every time we head out to eat. It was also a gentle reminder to consumers to have respect for the people who handled their food, lest it ends up being “taken care of” like it was for one annoying customer in the film.

Grade: B