Horrible Bosses 2011

Adam Graham, Detroit News: Horrible Bosses takes a dark premise -- three buddies band together to off their bosses -- and rings it for a solid, steady stream of laughs. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: It's a film that's wildly, brazenly stupid -- but also, you know, fun. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: If you're like me, you won't entirely hate it ... but you may hate yourself in the morning. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: The laughter is mean but also oddly pure: it expels shame and leaves you feeling dizzy, a little embarrassed and also exhilarated, kind of like the cocaine that two of the main characters consume by accident. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Bits that could have courted actual darkness a la Very Bad Things-violence, venality, vindictive sex-simply register as dank shock-jock gags done with little courage, and even less conviction. Read more

Logan Hill, New York Magazine/Vulture: Still, Day's scene involving a mountain of cocaine is hyperspeed-hilarious, Farrell's unhinged, irrational fuming is marvelously cretinous, and Aniston's fully committed sex-addict sexpot act is wickedly absurd. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Watching good actors let their hair down can be fun, but watching them let their standards down isn't. Read more

Scott Bowles, USA Today: It's over-the-top stuff, to be sure. But Bosses never crosses that line into the macabre. Don't call in sick to this shift. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: "Horrible Bosses" isn't horrible at all -- it's easy, raunchy fun in the manner of the first "Hangover" movie (and far better than the second). Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Horrible Bosses succeeds almost entirely on the chemistry of its three leads, who remain likeable even while resorting to homicide. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Although the premise is far-fetched and the plot at times ridiculous, there's enough comedic firepower in Seth Gordon's film to carry you over the rough patches. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Another frantic bad-boy comedy, with a good premise rendered depressingly inane by characters whose behavior barely makes sense. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis are pals who decide to knock off their miserable bosses, and their conspiracy leads in all sorts of unexpected directions in this crowd-pleasing, occasionally funny farce. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Cleverly structured, "Horrible Bosses" works in spite of its cruder, scrotum-centric instincts. Read more

Sam Adams, Los Angeles Times: A lot of low-stakes humor, occasionally brought off by a mostly ingratiating cast. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The coarseness wouldn't be so bad if at least the steady stream of obscenities were funny. But there is, after all, an art to talking dirty. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: It's been argued that movie comedies no longer have jokes. I would go one step further. The similarly titled (and similarly sloppy) Bad Teacher and Horrible Bosses barely even have stories. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: As they say, the best laid plans go oft awry. So what transpires in a comedy about the worst-laid schemes? These guys don't seem built for premeditated murder but are perfectly capable of mayhem. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: There are few comedy pleasures better suited to the medium of movies than that of watching supposedly normal people behaving terribly. And if those transgressing characters are played by popular movie stars, so much the better. Read more

Eric D. Snider, Film.com: A jubilant, vulgar, and extremely funny farce.... Day, Sudeikis, and Bateman are a dream team of comic actors. Read more

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: Probably isn't horrible enough to excite younger viewers and will certainly not attract anyone else. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Slow-witted, clumsy and almost pathologically reliant on crude name-calling for laughs ... Horrible Bosses represents the lowest end of the comedy spectrum. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: The movie's main thrust is lowball wish fulfillment, which comes too cheaply. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The smartest thing about "Horrible Bosses" is that it both refuses to just clock in and waste time - and, at the same time, works extra hard to hold our attention. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: The talented cast and colorful vulgarities work overtime to cover for a lack of coherence, but they can only distract for so long. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Gordon, who made the terrific documentary "The King of Kong," is still a little wobbly when it comes to fiction. Fortunately, his outstanding cast steadies all but the most uneven moments. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Look at how crazy is the craziness we are doing for you. Isn't it crazy? the movie shouts, and the more it does, the less you'll laugh. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: It's one of those revolting, raunch-fueled movies churned out in their sleep by the Farrelly brothers and Judd Apatow that I usually hate, but with real cleverness, off-center wit and edgy imagination. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Here is a curveball for a comedy home-run. But at its best, Horrible Bosses is a blooper. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: For something like Horrible Bosses to sparkle, the actors have to shine... and shine they do. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: The screenplay is a hit and miss; but there are some laughs. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: "Horrible Bosses" is funny and dirty in about that order. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Here's a hit-and-miss farce that leaves you wishing it was funnier than it is. Why? Because it wussies out on a sharp premise. Because it wastes a killer cast that's ready to rock it. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: "Horrible Bosses" has no meaning or purpose whatever, but it does have Colin Farrell with a bad comb-over, Kevin Spacey acting really mean and Jennifer Aniston as a spray-tanned sex maniac, and that's going to have to do. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Basically, "Horrible Bosses" is a handful of characters and a comic situation in search of something to do for 100 minutes. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: What's the point of a black comedy that doesn't go for the kill? Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: If you're bright enough to count your change at the popcorn stand, you're too smart to see "Horrible Bosses." Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Horrible Bosses" is like a loud water-cooler routine that you're forced to endure before suggesting to your crass co-workers that they should get back to work. Read more

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: Horrible Bosses offers a reminder that adherence to formula may not be among the signal virtues of comedy, but--provided the jokes are funny--it's no great vice either. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: What's right about Horrible Bosses is less easy to identify, but it comes down to something like esprit de corps. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Horrible Bosses is consistently funny, but it lacks the driving pace and frenetic energy that it so desperately needs. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: Gordon knows what works and what doesn't, pushing the leads' chummy chemistry to the fore while allowing the schematic and, frankly, highly unlikely murder plot to sink into the background. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It may not be the summer's funniest comedy (that would be Bridesmaids), but it's safe to say it's the most killer one. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: This foul-mouthed effort coasts on its leads' strong three-way chemistry and crack timing. Read more

Karina Longworth, Village Voice: What passes for comedy here doesn't have a chance against a thesis so scary and sad. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: There's an underlying, nearly universal relatability to "Horrible Bosses" that can't be denied and that screenwriters Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein use to great advantage. Read more