Horrible Bosses 2

With the comedy genre maybe more than any other successful genre, I think the sequel can be a dangerous thing. What was funny about the first one? Can that success and formula be duplicated? Are things tweaked too much or not enough? I'm looking at you Hangover trilogy. Would anyone be truly sad if that series had ended after the first flick? Nope, it's a classic. So what about this follow-up? Let's see where 2014's Horrible Bosses 2 stands.

After avoiding the debacle that was trying to kill their bosses at work, Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) have moved onto bigger and better things. In fact, the trio of friends have gone into business together, developing a shower product that seems ready to take off on the market. They just need a buyer, and they seem to have found one in Bert Hanson (Christoph Waltz), a powerful executive with a catalog featuring an open spot for their product. Well, he did. He takes advantage of these business novices and leaves them high and dry, stealing their product right out from under them. They've invested all their money into the business, and now they are just days away from the company and their product being foreclosed on. What to do? The three wannabe crooks head back to a life of crime. No, it's not murder this time around. They're going to kidnap Hanson's son and get enough money to pay off their loan with the ransom. What could possibly go wrong?

Released back in 2011, Horrible Bosses was a solid, funny comedy with a cool premise and a fun cast. I gave it 3 stars but still can't quite put my finger on it. The first movie was really funny but missing that special something. I'll be giving this 2014 sequel the same rating -- 3 stars -- but it's better. From director Sean Anders, 'Bosses 2' feels more comfortable in its own skin. It's a funny premise again where just about everything that can go wrong will go wrong. But here's the guts of it. I laughed a lot at this one. I laughed out loud. I laughed a lot more than I did with the original. I still struggle to review comedies at times, but this one's easy. I was entertained throughout and a goofy premise and fun cast provides some great laughs. And in sequel mode, it tries something different, not necessarily going for status quo. Yes, kidnapping is different than murder, and that's what I'm counting as different. Deal with it.

This one's pretty simple. Do you like Bateman, Sudeikis and Day? Do you like them working together? If you answered 'Yes,' then you're safe. If you answered 'No,' then this might not be the movie for you. Their on-screen chemistry is easy and funny and does a good job showing three friends who have been friends forever. They've got a rhythm when they talk, inside jokes like Dale insisting he always sits in the middle of the backseat ("I always sit in the middle!") and a history that's far before anything we see in either movie. Bateman is the quiet, usually frustrated leader, Sudeikis the kinda off the wall sidekick, and Day (to quote It's Always Sunny) is the wildcard. You just have to go along with things. Forced to take drastic measures, this trio of friends decides kidnapping (or 'kidnaping' maybe) is their best option. Let's do this!

The rest of the cast is excellent as well, bringing back some familiar faces while introducing some fresh blood. Waltz is underused as the money-minded, calculating businessman so the best addition to the cast is his son, Rex, played to perfection by Chris Pine. One of the big rising stars in Hollywood, Pine just brings this crazy, frenetic energy to the part, especially when he takes the lead in his own kidnapping. His chemistry with the kidnapping trio is perfect throughout, especially their scene planning how to pull it off. Returning from the original are Jennifer Aniston as Dale's former boss, a sex addict who takes a keen interest in what Dale and Co. are up to, Jamie Foxx as "Motherf****r" Jones, the trio's criminal muse, and Kevin Spacey as Nick's former boss, now locked up but still offering advice to the bumbling crooks. Cool to see those three back for more shenanigans.

The humor at times is pretty dirty, and a handful of times the seeming improvisation tries too hard. They're going for a big laugh, and it just isn't there, especially when the three friends throw their voices to call with ransom demands. For the most part though, the dead on arrival laughs are over pretty quickly, getting back to the goofy fun. I liked the whole movie a lot, but felt like it really hit its stride in the last hour when Pine's Rex gets involved with the kidnapping plot. Their brainstorming session is a great montage, and when we see how their plan is supposed to work....well, we know it won't. The actual kidnapping and ransom drop is dumb and fun and goofy. Stay tuned through the early parts of the credits too for some good laughs as we see all the flubs during filming.

Definitely worth seeking out. Fun cast, very funny sequel.

Horrible Bosses 2 (2014): ***/****

We're the Millers

It's hard to mess up a good road trip movie, thinking of a bunch anywhere from National Lampoon's Vacation to Little Miss Sunshine and a whole lot in between. Anything can happen on the road, and these movies have surely illustrated that point. It can be difficult to come up with a new twist for a familiar story/genre so kudos to 2013's We're the Millers for trying something unique.

A longtime and still low level pot dealer, David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) is in a bit of a spot. His stash and all the money he owes his dealer have been stolen, and David has no way to pay off his debt. Well, his dealer, Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms), has a solution, albeit a dangerous one. Brad has a smidge of marijuana waiting for pick-up south of the border in Mexico, and he'd like David to go pick it up and bring it back. If he does, his debts will be cleared. David agrees, but he knows this plan won't be easy. He too comes up with a solution, hiring three acquaintances to pose as his family so he can get in and out of Mexico without causing a stir and getting caught by the border patrol. It's still a screwball plan, but can "the Millers" somehow pull it off and save David from some serious trouble?

If you hadn't/haven't seen the previews before reading that plot synopsis, I bet you wouldn't have pegged director Rawson Marshall Thurber's flick as a comedy, but that's just what it is. Okay, yeah, it's pretty dark at times, but it is a comedy for sure. It starts off really well, dark but not too dark and blended nicely with a good combination of some lowbrow, physical humor and smarter laughs from a funny script that's all about the line delivery. Early on, I liked it a lot, but as the movie hits the road it gets a little too goofy, a little too rambling. It's never bad but unfortunately it also isn't as good as it could have been. Still, there is enough to recommend, a good but not great comedy with some genuinely funny laughs.

One of my favorite stars from recent Saturday Night Live seasons (he's since left the show), Sudeikis has made a good name for himself over the last couple years in movies like Hall Pass, Horrible Bosses, even a memorable supporting part in rom-com Going the Distance. While it is an ensemble cast, Sudeikis is the star here, and he carries himself well. I've read comparisons to Vince Vaughn, and that's fair. He's best when he's underplaying his part and going for the subtle laughs. As a low-level drug dealer, Sudeikis brings a certain oddball charm, a man-boy who never really grew up (which we see in a very funny appearance from high school buddy Thomas Lennon). It's also not your typical comedic lead, a drug dealer with his back up against the wall who's gotta pull some fast ones over some relative strangers.

As for the Millers, there's a good dynamic among David's fake family. They include Rose (a top-billed Jennifer Aniston), a stripper living in David's apartment building who's got some serious money issues, posing as David's wife, Casey (Emma Roberts), a punk, runaway teenager who basically lives on the streets, and Kenny (Will Poulter), a squirrely teenager who lives in David's building as well, inexperienced in....well, just about everything, especially any sort of interactions with girls. There's an enjoyable dynamic among the quartet, four very different people who find themselves working together with a whole lot on the line. David is getting $100,000 from Brad, promising $30,000 to Rose, $1,000 to Casey and a whole bunch of nothing to naively nice Kenny. Some of the best moments come from their act to pull off the Miller family act, and sometimes they're the quieter moments like David passing out sombreros to really prove the tourist family act.

Filling out the supporting cast is Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn as the Fitzgeralds, the real deal when it comes to American families who keep meeting up with the Millers on the road, Molly Quinn as their daughter who makes a surprising revelation in the Millers' epic RV. Tomer Sisley plays a Mexican drug supplier on David's trail, Matthew Willig his menacing enforcer, One-Eye. Also look for Luis Guzman as an opportunistic Mexican cop while Ken Marino plays the clueless owner of the strip club Rose works at.

Like I usually do with comedies, I'm wary of giving away too much because then I ruin the surprises and laughs that come up along the way. There are plenty of them, but some of those laughs get bogged down in a story that gets a little too family-oriented, a little too sentimental as the fake family becomes a bit of a real family. Good but could have been better. Oh, and Jennifer Aniston performs a striptease so there's that, and that is never a bad thing.

We're the Millers (2013): ** 1/2 /****

The Switch

For lack of a better, more well thought out description, sometimes all a movie needs to succeed, to pull audiences in is to have a gimmick. When it comes to comedies, the gimmick has to tread that fine line. A bunch of friends on a bachelor party weekend rediscovering what they did in Vegas via flashback? Good gimmick. A drunken man destroys his female friend's semen sample she was going to use to artificially inseminate herself and instead replaces it with his own? Oh goodness, what a horrifically contrived gimmick. Yep, 2010's The Switch.

Wally (Jason Bateman) and Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) have been friends for years following a couple dates that didn't go so well. Kassie is at a point in her life where she wants to have a kid, but she's had no luck finding the right guy and chooses to go to a sperm donor and be artificially inseminated. There's an issue. She does so at a 'Getting Pregnant' party, and a very drunk -- possibly high -- Wally accidentally destroys the semen sample. In a drunken stupor, he replaces the lost sample with his own, not even remembering what he did by the next morning. Some six years go by, Kassie moves from NYC and has a son, leaving Wally behind. She moves back to the city, giving Wally quite the shock. The boy is like him in every way right down to his neurotic, hypochondriac ways. It all starts to come together. Should he tell Kassie? How do you even tell someone that? Uh-oh, we've got a problem.

I almost didn't make it through this comedy. I try and give every movie I see a fair shot, but this one pushed the limits early on. The biggest reason? Well, it could be the horrifically awful gimmick that puts the story into motion, but it isn't. It's Bateman as Wally, an obsessively neurotic, shrill, rude and inconsiderate guy who is so easy to root against that it made me question why I was watching the movie. It's clear he has feelings for Aniston's Kassie, but that almost-relationship never worked out. In the meantime, he intervenes in her life -- more than just a friend -- while also sabotaging his own relationships. It's explained later that his Dad left the family when he was younger so I guess that makes it all okay. Still, for the first 40 minutes or so the character is so downright unlikable that it almost derails the movie.

While the second half of the movie is actually pretty decent, it is the first half that does its best to drive us away. Directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck rely on a screenplay that builds itself around such a badly contrived gimmick that it's just rough to watch. Bateman's Wally keeps trying to convince Kassie not to go through with the sperm donor but can't pull it off. At her 'Getting Pregnant' party, he gets drunk and also takes some herbal pill that clearly messes with his consciousness. Destroying the sample, he actually masturbates and replaces the missing donation with his own donation. Oh, but he's drunk so he can't remember it!?! It feels like a cop-out that he simply can't remember what he did. I'm all for gross-out jokes and comedy, but this just seemed like a little much on the gross-out meter. It also seems all sorts of wrong ethically, but that could just be me up on my high horse.

Go figure then, but when Kassie returns to NYC, 'Switch' actually manages to find an enjoyable, likable and entertaining tone and story. That switch-up comes when Wally meets Sebastian (Thomas Robinson), a 6-year old version of himself....but really cute. He's a unique little kid from his hypochondria to his general intelligence. Named Sebastian, he's got quite the nerdy name and after bonding early on with Wally, turns to his "Uncle" for advice. I liked the Sebastian character a lot. He's curious about his real dad. He likes to collect photo frames but keeps the inserted pictures, not replacing them with his own. The chemistry between Bateman and Robinson is pretty perfect, helping make up for the rather obnoxious early portions of the movie.

The rest of the cast is familiar but not bad. Aniston is okay as Kassie, but she's not given enough to do other than look kind of worried and be nervous. Patrick Wilson plays Roland, the actual donor who thinks Sebastian is his son. It's a tough part because we're supposed to think Roland is a doof, but other than some weird little traits, he seems like a good guy. Juliette Lewis is wasted as Debbie, Kassie's appropriately kooky character, a must-have character in a quasi-rom-com. I did like Jeff Goldblum as Leonard, Wally's co-worker who usually gives him a good dose of brutal honesty as the problems arise. Not surprisingly, things get uncomfortable late as Wally decides to tell Kassie the truth. The ending seems a little forced to make things a happy ending. I for one, imagine Kassie being eternally pissed at Wally, but I'm not writing screenplays.

So while I really intensely disliked parts of the movie, the parts that do work are excellent. It's a moderately positive review, but don't be looking for a comedy classic.

The Switch (2010): ** 1/2 /****   

Wanderlust

Airing between 1993 and 1995 on MTV, The State was an odd mix of weird characters and skits that helped put an impressive list of comedians in the limelight, including David Wain who's become a film director -- among other things -- in the years since. The State crew sticks together though, working together in films like Wet, Hot American Summer, Role Models, and most recently 2012's Wanderlust.

Having bought a micro-loft in New York City, married couple George (Paul Rudd) and Linda (Jennifer Aniston) are forced to improvise on the fly when George's financial company is shut down and Linda's documentary is turned down by HBO. With no money to speak of, the couple heads south to Atlanta to live with George's brother (Ken Marino), who has also offered him a job at his successful port-a-potty company.  Road tripping south, they stop at Elysium, a bed and breakfast spot they soon learn is a hippie commune. Weirded out at first by the commune's general freeness with just about everything, George and Linda then start to see that maybe this out of the way place is what they needed. It gets them away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, reconnecting with what brought them together..........or maybe not.

Anyone who's watched the above-listed movies along with a film like The Ten, comedy groups like Stella and TV shows like Reno 911 knows that the type of humor the extended State group favors is........odd? Off the wall? Eclectic? Random? Yep, one and all. The best example is 'American Summer' for me, ridiculously stupid and random humor that rises above because it embraces the stupidity. I find the humor hit or miss for the most part though in their other ventures. When a bit works, it can be a home run. When a bit fails, it does so epically. Directing this 2012 comedy that struggled in theaters (making just over $17 million), Wain has that typically odd humor with a solid cast. It starts off strong, producing a fair share of laughs, but it struggles to keep up the energy throughout its 98-minute run time.

What is never in question is the strong casting. Rudd is one of the funniest actors currently working in film and television, and he doesn't disappoint. It's not quite a straight man part to the hijinks -- he's given his chances for looniness -- but it's a relatively subdued part. Aniston too is solid if unspectacular, but the duo has some good chemistry together. As George's well-to-do a-hole brother, Marino is a scene-stealer. He has perfected that jackass part dripping with smarminess, Michaela Watkins playing his spaced-out wife. Also look for Keegan Michael Key as an HBO executive, Todd Barry as George's jokey co-worker, and an uncredited/unlisted Ray Liotta playing himself in a scene-stealing appearance in the final scene wrap-up.

It's at Elysium though that the more memorable parts come out, many of them coming from State cast members. Justin Theroux plays Seth, the philosophical Renaissance man running the place with his new-age thinking while Alan Alda plays Carvin, the man who founded Elysium in 1971 and never left. Oh, and acid has torn apart any sort of memory/coherence he has. Just some of the zany folks at the zany commune include Eva (Malin Akerman) who wants to sleep with George, Wayne (Joe Lo Truglio), the nudist winemaker trying to write a novel, Karen (Kathryn Hahn), the hotheaded pacifist, Kathy (Kerri Kenney), the necessarily ultra-odd hippie, and Almond (Lauren Ambrose) and Rodney (Jordan Peele), the white woman dating a BLACK MAN!!!!!

With a whole lot of talent on-screen, much of the humor looks it came from improv. A "truth circle" is a good mix of laughs and drama with a great pay-off courtesy of peyote. The reveal of George playing a didgeridoo with the hippies is similarly a solid pay-off. The hippies rub their fingers together rather than clap because it's "less aggressive." Little things like that go a long way, underplayed to perfection. Unfortunately, much of the humor doesn't lean that way. It's obvious, even a little self-indulgent like Wain and Stella-mates Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black playing a news team with some painfully obvious sexual innuendos. It's so obvious it takes away the humor.

So while there are laughs, it only takes the movie until around the hour mark. From there on in, the laughs are left by the wayside, and things get more predictable. The supposedly pure Seth has his eyes set on Linda?!? I didn't see that coming!!!! Worst than that, some of the humor becomes uncomfortable to watch, like Rudd's improvising dirty talk in front of a mirror is painful. It gets worse later when he tries that with Akerman's Eve. I became increasingly frustrated with this movie as it went along to the point I actively disliked it at times. It's never good when the final wrap-up scene is the movie's highlight, the outtakes over the credits producing the biggest laughs. Capable cast, some funny moments but mostly a disappointment.

Wanderlust (2012): **/****

Horrible Bosses

For the lucky ones among us, work ain't so bad. It's tolerable and even enjoyable at times. But who at some point in their adult life hasn't had one of those God awful, truly horrific bosses that make you want to rip your own ears off? If you don't qualify there, congratulations to you. Turning that fantasy of killing your boss into a feature length comedy -- this past summer's Horrible Bosses -- has never been so funny.

Friends since high school, Dale (Charlie Day), Nick (Jason Bateman) and Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) are all in some rather difficult situations at work in one way or another. With the economy in the tank though, they can't up and quit their jobs, much less tell their bosses off like they'd rather do. Drinking together one night, the three joke about killing their bosses, solving each others' problem with three nice, little murders. Okay, maybe it isn't a joke as all three decide this is their best alternative. With some help from a streetwise ex-con, Motherf**ker Jones (Jamie Foxx), who provides some "murder advice," the three friends go about planning some murders.

There's no way a comedic Strangers on a Train should work, but wouldn't you know it? It does. Murdering your boss(es) doesn't exactly sound like a bucket of laughs, but director Seth Gordon handles it in the right fashion. It isn't a drama with some comedic moments or even a dark comedy with some sinister laughs. This is down and out stupid funny movie with no pretensions of being anything else. Three long-time friends with no criminal background/experience in any way murdering their bosses? Bumbling their way through some 'recon' and 'intel'? The results are surprisingly hilarious with a very funny script from three different screenwriters (I'm too lazy to type and link all three names. Besides, do you care?)

Now onto the bosses, three roles that the actors are clearly having some fun with. The biggest part goes to Kevin Spacey as Harken, Bateman's manipulative tool of a boss with an ego the size of a blimp. Nobody does pretentious and smarmy like Spacey, having a ball playing a ridiculous over the cop comedic part. Jennifer Aniston gets to sex it up as Dale's boss, Dr. Julia, a dentist who takes every opportunity to sexually harass a recently engaged Dale. It doesn't seem so bad as his friends say. Aniston plays against type in a raunchier role than usual, and yeah, she looks phenomenal. Just saying.... And last there's an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as Pellitt, Kurt's cocaine-snorting freak of a boss. He's underused, but what's there is very funny. 

As a long-time fan of FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I love Charlie Day's work as Charlie Kelly, the illiterate, generally clueless and all-around goof who can't mange to do anything right. Playing Dale here, he's by far the funniest of the three friends. Goofy at times to the point of crazy, Day shows that same talent he has in Sunny, if a little lighter and not as sinister. The same for Sudeikis who seems destined for bigger and better things than Saturday Night Live. The only misfire is Bateman who seems to be sleepwalking at times. He has some funny lines -- his exchange about street racing with a Prius is classic -- but he doesn't look too interested.

Along with Foxx in a scene-stealing part as MotherF'er Jones, the cast features a couple other small but worthwhile parts. Look for Donald Sutherland, Bob Newhart, Julie Bowen, comedian Ron White, and Ioan Gruffudd in small but extremely effective bit parts.

Something is missing from all the zaniness that I can't quite put my finger on. The movie is funny with some great one-liners coming out of a ridiculously preposterous predicament, but is it too goofy at times? They never seem to really take serious what's going on. Eh, maybe they don't need to. It's funny.

Horrible Bosses <---trailer (2011): ***/****