I think part of the reason Horrible Bosses was such a hit at the box office was because it relates to so many people. There are lots of folks out there who have bosses that are, well, horrible and make their lives miserable. And, of course, they fantasize about having said bosses killed, hence why it was so popular. And now it will be again, thanks to the extended version out on blu-ray that brings in more laughs.
The movie stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis are friends Nick Hendricks, Dale Arbus and Kurt Buckman as friends who all have one thing in common: bosses who make their lives miserable. Nick’s boss, Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), is emotionally abusive and makes Nick work insanely hard for no reward. Dale is a dental assistant who works for Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston), who sexually harasses him. Kurt had a good boss (Donald Sutherland), but then he dies and his idiot jerk of a son Bobby (Colin Farrell) takes over, wanting Kurt to get rid of those he doesn’t like despite discrimination laws.
They soon get the idea into their heads that they’d be better off if their bosses were all dead. On the advise of ex-con “Motherfucker” Jones (Jamie Foxx), they decide to murder each other’s bosses, to both hide the motives and maybe make them look like accidents. But like all good plans, what sounds good on paper doesn’t actually go exactly right and hilarious hijinks ensue as all sorts of things go wrong.
It can be easy to see how this whole set-up could be funny. And actually seeing it go down makes it even funnier. As mentioned, it’s one thing to plan a murder, but then a whole other thing trying to actually do it when you have no idea what you’re doing and the people who are trying to help aren’t that much smarter. There is a moment where a murder attempt could’ve gone right, but that itself gets botched up due to Dale forgetting what they were supposed to be doing. There’s also plenty of other off-the-wall humor to be had, and granted some of the jokes are a bit on the sexist and racist side, but considering some of the characters to be had in this movie, that’s to be expected. After all, you can’t have characters like this and not have them speak the appropriate dialogue.
A big draw for the movie is the cast, and a lot of folks have praised on them. Especially the actors playing the bosses. Kevin Spacey just knows how to play a total psycho, not just in the work place but at his home, as well. Colin Farrell does great as a guy who’s another jerk, ripping on Kurt for being late to work when Kurt was at Bobby’s father’s funeral and thinking he’s such a big shot when he’s not. Jennifer Aniston’s movie roles have been mixed over the years, but she really seems to do well here as someone in authority who uses her position (and her employee’s own weakness) to her advantage. In other words, they act just like the kind of horrible bosses that could be found in real life and real people could have. As for our heroes, Bateman, Day and Sudeikis are great in their roles, playing average nice guys who, despite some of the good things in their lives, get a greater amount of crap handed to them and don’t seem to do that great under pressure.
Horrible Bosses comes to blu-ray with a nice 1080p transfer for your viewing pleasure. Being a big of a dark comedy much like “Cable Guy” the film also has many dark scenes. The ones with Jamie Foxx instantly come to mind or when the guys are out in the night at their stakeouts. Thus, the video quality can suffer in scenes of that nature. There was some instances of grain in some of these scenes, but nothing like these screen shots show off. So know that the screen shots are not a true presentation of what the blu-ray will show. That being said, overall it gets the job done and is by far still worth the purchase for those interested.
Horrible Bosses comes to blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS HD Master track that will work your front or sound bar with high vocal clarity, but lacks a bit in depth. While most won’t find this as a big deal, those with high end setups will probably hear the difference. Overall tho its nowhere near a deal breaker as its still better audio then any DVD release. Front heavy, the fronts and center channel will carry the bulk of the load.
Horrible Bosses comes to blu-ray with the totally inappropriate edition which includes both the theatrical and extended edition. The extended edition includes almost another 10 minutes of content from the flick.
My Least Favorite Career: The cast breaks out and discusses bosses of their past.
Surviving a Horrible Boss: Tips from the cast.
Being Mean is So Much Fun: Feature discussing the bosses and being mean.
The Making of the Horrible Bosses Soundtrack: Making of with Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band and Beastie Boyz.
Deleted Scenes: Extra content of deleted scenes including a different opening.
UltraViolet Digital Copy: Things have now gotten easier, or have they? Ultra Violet allows you to download or stream to your devices.
BD-Live Functionality
Whether you can relate to it or not, Horrible Bosses is a pretty good movie, definitely worth giving a look. Especially with the extended version, and a great laugh out loud movie to watch with the mrs. Horrible Bosses has a decent amount of special features and the video/audio quality is far above average. If you’re looking to add another comedy to your collection then I definitely suggest a purchase. It has more replay value than the recent Hall Pass.
Wasn't sure what to think about this movie prior to seeing it, but it was hilarious.