Back & Forth #4: A Not-So-Horrible Trip
This issue, we venture Fourth (rather than Forth) on A Not-So-Horrible Trip through October 19, 2011 by means of a pair of comedies that deliver in completely different ways.
In Horrible Bosses, Jason Bateman (The Change-Up), Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia), and Jason Sudeikis (Hall Pass) star as best friends who hire a "murder consultant" (Jamie Foxx, Law Abiding Citizen) to help them kill their unrealistically abusive bosses.
Bateman's boss is played by Kevin Spacey (21), who fits comfortably in the money-grubbing, egotistical, curmudgeonly shoes of his character, Dave Harken.
Day works as a dental assistant for Jennifer Aniston's blackmailing nymphomaniac Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S., a role (it was quite obvious) that she enjoyed as much as I did.
But the biggest surprise, given "complete license [by director Seth Gordon] to act as pathologically screwed up as possible," and all but unrecognizable in his comb-over and potbelly, was Colin Farrell (who starred with Foxx in 2006's Miami Vice).
Keep in mind as you watch this movie that Horrible Bosses is an R-Rated comedy. So a certain amount of excessive profanity, suggestive dialogue, exaggeration, complete disregard for reality, and other expressions of pure stupidity are in order. The plot is a simple and delicious blend of offensive entertainment that goes beyond what every downtrodden employee can only dream of, and does what no person in their right mind would ever do.
Given the polarizing flaws (listed above) that come standard to the genre, I still consider Horrible Bosses to be a successful comedy; I was shocked, I was often repulsed, and I was frequently thrown into a state of denial as a result, but I never stopped laughing.
A-
In the past decade, moviegoers have been subjected to the likes of The Dukes Of Hazzard, G.I. Joe, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Scream 4. It is a rarity these days to have put forth a big-budget sequel, remake, or adaptation that succeeds in grabbing the attention of Generation Next.
A rather small addition to the Re-Imagination Club is the recent DVD release of The Trip, a British comedy burdened with a double helping of un-originality to overcome: it is both a film adaptation (based on the 2010 BBC television series of the same name) and a sequel of sorts.
British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon reprise their roles from Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story as fictionalized versions of themselves, making a week-long restaurant tour of northern England as part of Coogan's bid to revitalize his acting career.
A slow start is soon amply compensated for by intermittent, escalating exchanges of one-upsmanship (ranging from severe annoyance to absolute brilliance) between the two men, in which they attempt to outdo each other in the art of celebrity impressionism.
The film plays like Sideways by way of a European travelogue, exhibiting the actors' tenuous toleration of each other in the midst of some beautifully photographed English countryside and pretentiously arranged, yet sometimes delicious-sounding food.
Coogan's and Brydon's travels are by turns funny, heartfelt, educational, and bearably boring; a Trip to nowhere with the importance of the journey in mind.
B+
In Horrible Bosses, Jason Bateman (The Change-Up), Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia), and Jason Sudeikis (Hall Pass) star as best friends who hire a "murder consultant" (Jamie Foxx, Law Abiding Citizen) to help them kill their unrealistically abusive bosses.Bateman's boss is played by Kevin Spacey (21), who fits comfortably in the money-grubbing, egotistical, curmudgeonly shoes of his character, Dave Harken.
Day works as a dental assistant for Jennifer Aniston's blackmailing nymphomaniac Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S., a role (it was quite obvious) that she enjoyed as much as I did.
But the biggest surprise, given "complete license [by director Seth Gordon] to act as pathologically screwed up as possible," and all but unrecognizable in his comb-over and potbelly, was Colin Farrell (who starred with Foxx in 2006's Miami Vice).
Keep in mind as you watch this movie that Horrible Bosses is an R-Rated comedy. So a certain amount of excessive profanity, suggestive dialogue, exaggeration, complete disregard for reality, and other expressions of pure stupidity are in order. The plot is a simple and delicious blend of offensive entertainment that goes beyond what every downtrodden employee can only dream of, and does what no person in their right mind would ever do.
Given the polarizing flaws (listed above) that come standard to the genre, I still consider Horrible Bosses to be a successful comedy; I was shocked, I was often repulsed, and I was frequently thrown into a state of denial as a result, but I never stopped laughing.
A-
In the past decade, moviegoers have been subjected to the likes of The Dukes Of Hazzard, G.I. Joe, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Scream 4. It is a rarity these days to have put forth a big-budget sequel, remake, or adaptation that succeeds in grabbing the attention of Generation Next.
A rather small addition to the Re-Imagination Club is the recent DVD release of The Trip, a British comedy burdened with a double helping of un-originality to overcome: it is both a film adaptation (based on the 2010 BBC television series of the same name) and a sequel of sorts.British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon reprise their roles from Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story as fictionalized versions of themselves, making a week-long restaurant tour of northern England as part of Coogan's bid to revitalize his acting career.
A slow start is soon amply compensated for by intermittent, escalating exchanges of one-upsmanship (ranging from severe annoyance to absolute brilliance) between the two men, in which they attempt to outdo each other in the art of celebrity impressionism.
The film plays like Sideways by way of a European travelogue, exhibiting the actors' tenuous toleration of each other in the midst of some beautifully photographed English countryside and pretentiously arranged, yet sometimes delicious-sounding food.
Coogan's and Brydon's travels are by turns funny, heartfelt, educational, and bearably boring; a Trip to nowhere with the importance of the journey in mind.
B+
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