The Boss

When Melissa McCarthy is used well in a movie, she can be one of the brightest and funniest talents working in the movies today.  For an example of some of her best recent work, watch her comedy from last summer, Spy.  Unfortunately, The Boss does not know how to use her, which is surprising, since McCarthy co-wrote the script with her husband, Ben Falcone, who also directed the film.  Instead of relying on her comedic smarts or physical ability, the movie casts her adrift as a mean-spirited, foul-mouthed twit who really only wants to be loved.

Lord save us from Hollywood's recent trend of taking raunchy adult comedies, and having them turn all soft and mushy near the end, with lots of sappy messages about family, friendship and getting along.  It seldom ever works, but filmmakers keep on doing it.  It's not even the first time this trend has claimed McCarthy, as her 2013 comedy, Identity Thief, went all soft and sentimental in the last half hour, with many scenes of the actress choking back tears because, darn it, she just wants to be loved!  This time around, her character is a cocky and brash self-made woman who lives only to succeed, and to crush anyone who gets in her way.  That's all a facade, of course.  Turns out she grew up an orphan, and was returned three times by the various families who adopted her.  All she needs to melt that cold heart of hers is a homemade craft project given to her by a little girl, and of course, a family of her own.  Do the people who write these ideas down into scripts actually nod approvingly when they add this stuff in on the tail end of a movie that's been built around four-letter words, jokes about comparing boobs, and rude, obnoxious behavior?  Can you imagine Animal House if it ended with a scene with Belushi sharing his feelings about being abandoned as a little boy?

McCarthy plays Michelle Darnell, a woman who rose from nothing to become one of the wealthiest people in the world, and a corporate giant.  She is successful enough to hold self help seminars that are more like arena rock concerts, with her descending down to stage on a giant golden phoenix statue that shoots sparks and flames.  Michelle's life is all about excess, because in the prologue, we witness her lonely childhood, and the moment she decided she was only going to live for herself.  She surrounds herself with "yes men", and is basically the center of her own universe.  That all comes crashing down when a business rival and jilted former lover (played by Peter Dinklage, giving a performance just as weird and unfunny as the one he gave in last year's Adam Sandler bomb, Pixels) has her sent to jail for insider trading.  When Michelle gets out of prison, she's lost all of her money and properties, and none of her former high-powered friends will even talk to her.

With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, Michelle must rely on her former personal assistant, Claire (Kristen Bell, very subdued and bland here), and Claire's young daughter, Rachel (Ella Anderson).  Claire is not interested in the idea of having her former boss sleeping on her couch and taking over her bathroom at all hours of the day, but can't turn away someone who is homeless.  One day, Michelle hits upon a brilliant marketing idea of combining Claire's expertise at baking brownies with her business sense, and then start a group with Rachel's young friends at school who will sell the brownies door to door, rivaling the current Girl Scout group that has a stranglehold on the market with their cookies.  I can see how there could be some laughs generated here, but most of the good material gets sidetracked by subplots, such as Claire striking up a relationship with a guy at her new job.

That's not to say that The Boss doesn't work at all as a comedy, as there are some funny moments.  An early scene depicting Michelle's tooth whitening routine gets big laughs when she is forced to talk with her lips drawn back by a giant plastic device that exposes her gums.  And even if it seems to borrow heavily from the famous scene from Anchorman where the different news teams battle each other, there is a funny scene where Michelle's group of girls gets in an all-out brawl with the rival cookie-selling group on the streets.  But at its very core, the movie just wants us to really love Michelle.  While the movie is nowhere near as funny as it could have been, it at least seems to have a bit of an edge to it, even if that edge does seem a bit mean spirited at times.  But then, it has to get all soft on us, when little Rachel starts to consider Michelle part of the family, and she doesn't know how to deal with it, because she's never had a family before, nor has she ever thought of anyone but herself.

So, what we're left with is an uneven movie that blends comedy that doesn't quite work as it should, with sappy sentimental moments that have no place being there in the first place.  It's a natural trend for comedians to want to be liked, I understand that.  Comics like Eddie Murphy and Robin Williams started out racy, but gradually turned to more sentimental or child-friendly roles that existed simply to be liked.  When it's done well, it can be rewarding, as Williams sometimes proved.  But when it goes wrong (as Williams also sometimes proved), it could be annoying.  I just want McCarthy to be sharp and funny and quick on her feet.  I know she can do this, as I have seen her perform it effortlessly in some of her past films.  But in a movie like this or Identity Thief, where she seems more concerned with having us like her than in getting laughs, it can seem kind of desperate.

The Boss feels like a missed opportunity.  There are moments for satire here, but the movie doesn't dig deep enough, and it keeps on changing gears from being edgy and kind of bland, to being sentimental and very bland.  I think it's great that McCarthy has enough power in Hollywood to make her own projects, and make them the way she wants to.  I just wish she trusted the fact that people already love her, and just want her to be funny.

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