The Boss

All comedies are not created equal. This is my new mantra. It's strange that when one watches a drama, one will probably get a similar response out of the film, however when one watches a comedy, the difference in two different comedies can be as diverse as apples and oranges. Such as "Hello, My Name Is Doris" is a totally different film than that of this new offing, "The Boss", even though both are comedies.

Hugely successful businesswoman Michelle Darnell (Melissa McCarthy) is a self-absorbed, greedy, seemingly non-redeemable individual who is convicted of insider trading and is sentenced to 4 months in prison. After being released, she is forced to move in with her long- suffering employee, Claire (Kristen Bell) who was her personal assistant. Darnell tries to earn redemption and revamp her public image by helping Claire's daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) and the rest of her friends in their quest to sell homemade brownies. Of, course, Michelle is not only wanting to help these girls, but in the process, it's a way to get back at her business rival, Renault (Peter Dinklage) in a no-holds-barred comedy of unbelievable proportions.

Others to round out the cast are Tyler Labine as Mike Beals, a co-worker/friend of Claire's, Kathy Bates as Ida Marquette, Cecily Strong as Dana Dandridge, Claire's boss, Kristen Schaal as Scout Leader Sandy, Annie Mumolo as Helen, Eva Peterson as Crystal and Mary Sohn as Jan Keller.

This was directed by actor Ben Falcone who also directed McCarthy in "Tammy" '14. Being McCarthy's spouse certainly makes it convenient for both individuals, so at the end of the day, they can go home together instead of being separate, especially when shooting can be out of state. He's a relative newbie in the directing chair, but since he is also an actor, this can be a huge assistance when directing. His "Life of the Party" is in pre-production and will be released in '17. It was written by Falcone, Steve Mallory and McCarthy. Again, McCarthy and Falcone will team up as they also did with "Tammy" with the writing of "Life of the Party"
in '17. It's certainly a family affair where they have all the comfort of bouncing their respective ideas off one another. Seriously, the premise of this was much better than the execution thereof. The jokes seemed forced some of the time and even though we know that Michelle must learn her lesson in going from being totally selfish to realizing there is more to life than being rich, McCarthy seems to play a similar character in this and her other films--take one name out and insert another name and viola! This was an admirable attempt in a real redemptive individual with all the dysfunction and pitfalls, but the transformation could've been a bit smoother. Trust me, I see definite potential of comic genius in McCarthy, but I'd love to see her in meatier roles that can really showcase what kind of comedienne she actually is. Her best performances are probably "Bridesmaids" '11 and "St. Vincent" '14, the latter being a role we've not seen by her--toned down. Last year's "Spy" was close at seeing the comic genius I was striving to see, but I'm still waiting.

Certainly if you like McCarthy's comedies, you'll obviously love this vehicle, but if you're like me and are waiting to see that comic genius we all know this comedienne processes, then I'm afraid we have a bit longer to wait.

Out of 4 Stars: 2                                     Rated: R                                     99mins.