by Kate Rohr

So after some dramatic and serious films, I decided to go for a straight-up comedy: “Horrible Bosses.” It was in theaters this summer, and just came out on DVD. It was a great choice.

“Horrible Bosses” is the story of how three normal guys (Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis and Jason Bateman) try to murder their horrendously awful bosses (Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell and Kevin Spacey). And with this many fantastic actors, there’s not a dull scene in the film. Charlie Day plays Dale, a sweet, romantic man (“Being a husband was like the highest calling.”) whose boss (Aniston) sexually harasses and blackmails him. Jason Sudeikis is the accidentally racist Kurt, whose boss is an incompetent idiot, brilliantly played by Farrell (“We’re going to trim the fat. I want you fire all the fat people.”). Jason Bateman is the dedicated executive Nick, trying to work his way up but whose psychopath boss (Spacey) constantly prevents it.

These employers are preposterously awful, but not so preposterous that they’re completely unbelievable. Well, maybe Farrell and Aniston are unbelievable, but they’re so hysterical I don’t care. “Horrible Bosses” is truly riddled with talented actors. Donald Sutherland rocks the sweet father figure for like five minutes, and Isaiah Mustafa (that hot guy from the Old Spice commercials) cameos as a cop for six seconds. But Jamie Foxx just takes the cake. He is the greatest. Ever. His name contains a bit of an expletive,* so let’s just call him “Jones.” He’s their assassination advisor, but he’s never killed anyone and he only ever pirated a film. And he drinks out of a straw. What more do you want out of a hit man?

The premise of this film is completely ridiculous, and it works best that way. The characters are ridiculous, too – Aniston and Farrell’s characters are absurd, but just believable enough to make it work. Farrell actually made his character far crazier than the creators of “Horrible Bosses” originally intended, insisting on a comb-over, large gut and obsession with Chinese dragons.

But my favorite part of “Horrible Bosses” is that Dale, Kurt and Rick are just such average people doing what everyone has had one point fantasized of doing themselves: taking out the authority. (Don’t worry Mrs. Bone; this does not apply to you!) Kurt and Dale have this little moment, where they flap their arms in excitement because their to-be hired assassin is there. It’s small and subtle but just totally captures their relationship and the ridiculousness of these guys hiring an hit man. After they come up with a plan, this great ‘pump up for murdering’ song plays – except that they’re in a Wal Mart-esque store, and Dale is going crazy over a 2 for 1 deal on peanuts. (I don’t know if you can tell from previous posts, but I love a good contradictory scene.) Later Dale gets them out of the police station because he uses lines from “Law & Order,” and I know that most of the legal knowledge that our generation possesses is straight from TV crime shows.

There are so many good things that it’s honestly hard to find something bad about it, but I’m going to try just for fairness. “Horrible Bosses” is unnecessarily crude sometimes, and it’s funny at first but gets old by the end. There’s also some triple point of view stuff at the beginning and end that doesn’t really jive with me. But in the end, “Horrible Bosses” gets a highly respectable 8! That’s all, folks!

*If you’re not a huge fan of cursing, “Horrible Bosses” is probably not for you. There is a LOT of it. Too much, actually. It’s just excessive. But if you have any serious moral aversions, steer clear.

ALSO, this is an official parental advisory warning, as in don’t watch it with your folks. It would be awkward. Just a little.