Horrible Bosses 2 (9/10)

by Tony Medley

Runtime 109 minutes.

Not for children.

There is a fine line between truly funny and truly idiotic. People like Will Ferrell and Judd Apatow don’t recognize this line and cross it constantly, so their films are so fatuous they are insulting.

This film approaches the line time and again but never crosses it. The result is a film with more laughs than any I’ve seen in a long time. It’s got a brilliant cast with one of my all-time favorite actors, Christoph Waltz, shining in a minor role. But the main cast, Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charley Day, and Chris Pine all shine. The supporting cast constitutes an A-list of leading actors, including Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Anniston, and Jamie Foxx, and all give sparkling performances.

Director Sean Anders (who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Morris) keeps the pace up throughout. There wasn’t one scene that could have been deleted or that slowed the progress of the film.

As in its predecessor, Bateman is the glue that holds his triumvirate of dummies (Bateman, Sudeikis, and Day) together with their harebrained ideas. It was hard for me to tell who was the funniest. When Pine was onscreen, I thought it was maybe he. Naturally Waltz is in the running. Anniston plays a sex-crazed woman impeccably. Her scenes do contain some language that some might find offensive, but it is its offensiveness that brings the humor. Sudeikis and Day also have their moments. But, wait, I was laughing all the time that Foxx and Spacey were onscreen, too. You’ll just have to decide for yourself.

November 20, 2014