Victor Rebikoff Welcome to the movies at PS News.
   Each week, PS News's film critic Victor Rebikoff will highlight the latest offerings from the silver screen and share his expert commentary for our information and guidance.

Horrible Bosses

   Director: Seth Gordon, Roadshow Films, Rated MA, 98 mins

This wacky workplace comedy from director Seth Gordon (Four Holidays) is nothing short of being ridiculously funny due in large part to a number of enjoyable performances from a star-studded cast and an amusing script that may not please everyone’s perspective in view of its raunchy humour.
   As implied in the title the story centres on workplace relationships, in particular on three friends - Nick (Jason Bateman - Couples Retreat), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis - Hall Pass) and Dale (Charlie Day - Going the Distance) - all of whom have horrible bosses, namely Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey - Beyond the Sea), Bobby Pellitt (Colin Farrell – In Bruges) and Jennifer Aniston - The Bounty Hunter).
Horrible Bosses
   In the case of Nick (Bateman), his boss Dave (Spacey) is abusive and a slave-driver who requires him to work all hours in the expectation of being promoted to Vice-President - only to find that Dave has decided to take on both roles himself.
   Then there is Kurt (Sudeikis) whose boss Jack Pellit (Donald Sutherland - The Mechanic) regards him particularly favourably until he dies suddenly of a heart attack and is replaced by his drug-addicted son Bobby (Farrell) who despises Kurt’s relationship with his father and immediately makes his work life hell.
   Finally there is Dale (Day), a diffident dental assistant to dentist Julia Harris (Aniston) who has no qualms in constantly trying to sexually harass him - even with patients in the chair who have been anaesthetised.
   The crunch comes at one of their drinking sessions when all three friends hatch a plan to get rid of their bosses with the help of MFJones (Jamie Foxx) an ex-con.
   Gordon’s ridiculous plot has some flaws but only works because of the comedic routines of its leading cast members - Bateman, Day and Sudeikis - not to mention some priceless performances from Spacey, Foxx, Farrell and Aniston.
   It is also somewhat surprising to see Aniston in a role where her character makes so much use of sexually explicit actions, humour and words.
   Even though there are many hilarious moments in the movie and worth seeing, one should not go with a boss who may be horrible!
VIC'S VERDICT:   3 ½ Rubber Stamp


DVD Review

Something Borrowed

   Release Date: September 2011
   Director: Luke Greenfield, Warner Bros, Rated M, 114 mins

A new DVD being released this month is from third time movie director Luke Greenfield (The Animal) who takes on the adaptation of Emily Giffin’s best selling chick-flick novel ‘Something Borrowed’ and transforms its story of friendship and infidelity into a complicated romantic drama that may also be viewed as a romantic comedy.
Something Borrowed
   It essentially revolves around a group of friends that include Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin), Ethan (John Krasinski), Dex (Colin Egglesfield) and Darcy (Kate Hudson) and the break-up in the friendship between Rachel and Darcy (which goes back to their college days) when Dex (Darcy’s fiancé) ends up sleeping with Rachel after her 30th birthday party that Darcy has organised.
   What follows are Greenfield’s attempts at rationalising the reasons for the betrayal and conveying the guilt being experienced despite showing that the relationship between Rachel and Darcy is finished.
   It is difficult to really like each of the main characters involved in such a love triangle except for Ethan, the typical nice guy who provides the most pleasing of the performances on show as Rachel’s true friend.
   Overall this DVD (which includes some bonus features) is still worth watching as it does illustrate the personal dramas involved when human relationships are betrayed.
VIC'S VERDICT:   2½ Rubber Stamp

To find out more about Victor Rebikoff click here.

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