Horrible bosses

Horrible Bosses, 2011
Director: Seth Gordon
Cast: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis




Stage: Home theatre

Horrible bosses in short: Nick hates his boss, mostly because he's expected to work from before sunrise to after sunset and his boss, Mr. Harken, calls him out for being a minute late and blackmails him so he can't quit. Dale hates his boss, Dr. Julia Harris, because she makes unwelcome sexual advances when he's about to get married. But Dale is on that pesky list of child offenders so he can't quit. Kurt actually likes his job and his boss, well, up until his boss dies and the boss's coked-out, psychopathic son takes over. But who would be crazy enough to quit their jobs in such poor economic times? Instead Nick, Dale and Kurt drunkenly and hypothetically discuss how to kill their bosses, and before they know it, they've hired a murder consultant to help them pull off the three deeds.


Preps: Hm. seems interesting, but on the other hand, I fear that it cannot exceed comedy genre (or to say it differently, I fear that it's making fun out of things that aren't funny).



Reality: Your boss is your biggest priority. The only task you have is keeping your boss satisfied in all senses /and all possible interpretations. True? According to the piece so true.

People aren't machines. This means they come programmed with feelings. And that sometimes relationships between the boss and the subordinate are beyond anything you could imagine to have to bear with. And in most cases it's definitely done the way the boss wants it. Like it or not, you are here to make him happy and you aren't spending your money, but the money he's signed up for or is responsible for. If the boss is the owner, then you are actually spending his money. So sometimes it needs to be according to the saying "your money, your game". which means we are forced to turn the boat as the boss likes it and not as we would.

This piece shows a rebel yell of three individuals that despise their bosses for different reasons and plan how to kill them. The abuses we can see prior to the stupid plan and delivery of it, are quite common in business world and even though they might not seem real, they are real and we often hear about this. However, there's nothing really an individual can do to avoid this. Rather than sharing the thoughts and dreams how to kill the boss, I would think of how to deal with this. There is no universal recipe, but the pain is universal. Does the power you hahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifve on one position equip you also with means to hurt your subordinates? Yes, it does. But how to avoid the temptation to tread on people like the ones you knew treaded on you? That's the remaining question.

The piece is below average and besides thinking on the way I could handle my own career life with another solution, the movie didn't offer me anything. It's really sad that I managed to see another piece surely underestimating the audience. Cast is respectable, yet thin in delivery. The setting is pretty much unimaginative. The only thing true are the issues that these guys are facing. But this question remained unanswered - how to be a subordinate that deserves /and knows how to push with this/ to be respected.


My personal rate: 2,0 (surely a waste of time!!!)


Horrible bosses on IMDB

The Change Up, 2011

The Change Up, 2011
Director: David Dobkin
Cast: Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Olivia Wilde


Stage: Home theatre, Friday night.


The Change Up in short: Growing up together, Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) and Dave (Jason Bateman) were inseparable best friends, but as the years have passed they've slowly drifted apart. While Dave is an overworked lawyer, husband and father of three, Mitch has remained a single, quasi-employed man-child who has never met a responsibility he liked. To Mitch, Dave has it all: beautiful wife Jamie (Leslie Mann), kids who adore him and a high-paying job at a prestigious law firm. To Dave, living Mitch's stress-free life without obligation or consequence would be a dream come true. Following a drunken night out together, Mitch and Dave's worlds are turned upside down when they wake up in each other's bodies and proceed to freak out. Despite the freedom from their normal routines and habits, the guys soon discover that each other's lives are nowhere near as rosy as they once seemed. Further complicating matters are Dave's sexy legal associate.

Preps: This is now hot stuff in local theatre. So let's check it up. According to the trailer, it won't be a shocker if I hate it.


Reality: My hunches are sometimes so true. First of all, the topic is insanely abused by many pieces, seen so far.
Secondly, most of those pieces exceeded this one. This is a bad example of a remake of a lot of remakes.
Hm.. two people, desperately wanting to get out of their lives, wanting everything to change and then after one week realize that life is precious? Ok, I see the value in this, however the delivery is horrible. You need to piss in the fountain to get laid? Really?
Anyhow, Reynolds and Bateman pair up in Hanson and Gretel, one picking up breadcrumbs from hot women, the other one taking responsibility. OK, lesson learned. Married life means that your woman farts too. Well, goes hand in hand with pre-assumptions and land of milk and chocolate, if you aren't aware of this fact before you marry the girl.
And all of the sudden Reynolds becomes serious and wants a serious relationship. Really? I buy that Bateman as a married guy wants to repeat his vowels, but does a mindset that has various women under his roof almost each night, change after one week? Well, could be, but how long will it last before the predator inside him approaches again?

Bad delivery (director), bad cast. Implying that work isn't everything and that we run around chasing minutes and seconds instead of living the life. Agree, however it's something great thinkers told us hundred years ago. Doesn't mean it doesn't apply to today, however, a chewed-up story with a cheesy ending. A no no.


My personal rate: 1,0 (yuk. another one bites the dust. Do something better with your time!!!)


The Change Up on IMDB

The Switch, 2010

The Switch, 2010
Director: Will Speck, Josh Gordon
Cast: Jennifer Anniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson




Stage: Home Theatre

The Switch in short: Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) and Wally (Jason Bateman) are best friends. Being unlucky in love, Kassie has decided to have a child using artificial insemination. Wally doesn't like this idea, but he isn't capable of admitting to himself, let alone to Kassie, that he's in love with her. At Kassie's artificial insemination party, Wally gets very drunk and spies the sperm donor's sample in the bathroom. Wally was way too drunk to know what he did that night, and Kassie has moved away because she doesn't feel that New York City is a place to raise a child. Now 7 years later, Kassie has moved back with her son Sebastian. While she is looking to get Roland (the sperm donor) more involved in their lives, Wally can't help but notice the many striking similarities that he and Sebastian share.


Preps: hot stuff in the theatres globally, I need to see it. Kind of like Aniston, for her cute act. Normally I need to be in a weird mode to find the comedies she's in, good. But, let's give it a shot.


Reality: What if you are in the best years and want a baby, but don't have a spouse - what will you do? The simplest thing in the world is to get some semen and just have a baby. I come from a single mom with a child process, so I am aware it sounds perfect in theory but can be very hard and depressive along the way. Rewarding, for sure, but very hard in praxis.
Well, this piece demonstrates a strong woman, going for the baby on her own. The usual complication is with her best friend, first trying to help her on the way, but afterwards, thinking about her in romantic sense. Of course, the funny scenes derive from this fact, as well as those before her insemination, trying to replace the lost semen, the "getting inseminated party" scenery and jokes, etc. Do you really throw a party when you get your head into something like this? Or do you really find a decent guy (in this case married), that is ready to give you his sperm - but is also present on this party, along with his wife..

There are several ways you can get pregnant and I am not sure this is the most preminent one. However, it does give a new perspective to the idea of getting a child even if you are not in the relationship period. I believe this is the kind of thing that happens to you, and you shouldn't pursue intentionally. But this is just my opinion, for some women it actually works.

No real surprises here. And no recommendations either. This is just another piece in a long queue of similar ones. Will make you laugh occassionally, though.


Good quotes from the right beginning:
I am ready to do it now. Life is in session. I am in the market for some semen and I need you to help me find some :)



My personal rating: 3,0


The Switch on IMDB