The Boss

For F*** Magazine

THE BOSS 

Director : Ben Falcone
Cast : Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, Ella Anderson, Tyler Labine, Kathy Bates, Annie Mumulo, Kristen Schaal, Kathy Bates
Genre : Comedy
Run Time : 99 mins
Opens : 21 April 2016
Rating : M18 (Sexual References and Coarse Language)

Melissa McCarthy has become one of the most in-demand comedic actors in Hollywood, and her latest starring vehicle sees her in a position of power as the 47^th wealthiest woman in the United States. McCarthy plays Michelle Darnell, a business mogul and popular financial guru who gets knocked down a few pegs when she’s convicted of insider trading. Starting from scratch after her release from prison, she has nowhere to stay except with her former assistant Claire Rawlins (Bell). The long-suffering Claire has moved on to a new job, trying to provide for her daughter Rachel (Anderson). Michelle hatches a business plan to create a brownie empire off Claire’s secret family recipe. Michelle’s long-time nemesis and former lover Renault (Dinklage) is bent on preventing Michelle from getting back on her feet. Michelle has to learn to become equal partners with Claire, the woman she used to boss around, if her plan is going to succeed.

            The Boss is directed by McCarthy’s husband, Ben Falcone, who also makes a cameo appearance as a lawyer. Falcone previously directed McCarthy in Tammy, and the couple also co-wrote The Boss with Steve Mallory. Mallory is a friend of theirs from the comedy troupe Groundlings, and Michelle Darnell is based on a character McCarthy developed during her time at the Groundlings. This sounds like a bunch of friends having a laugh - while there’s no rule saying that a bunch of friends having a laugh cannot produce a solid movie, The Boss comes off as flimsy and self-indulgent. There must be hundreds of smarter, sharper comedy scripts floating around Hollywood, but this gets made because of the clout McCarthy has garnered, and due to the influence of producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.

            While McCarthy is undeniably talented, like every actor out there, she has certain strengths and weaknesses. She’s at her best as the scrappy, brash underdog who musters up the gumption when it counts the most. The Michelle Darnell character is obnoxious, confrontational and generally unpleasant. Her sappy backstory - that she bounced around foster homes living a childhood of rejection - is intended to mitigate Michelle’s repulsive behaviour to those around her, especially those trying to help her. It comes off as lazy writing and there’s the promise that the character will be forced to eat her humble pie and change her ways, but any redemption is half-hearted at best. Around half the jokes consist of Michelle blurting out something grossly inappropriate in the presence of children, while the adults gasp and the kids ask “what’s ‘girl-on-girl’?” Rachel seems to get along with Michelle almost immediately, overcoming her initial suspicions of her mother’s former boss with convenient ease. Again, pretty lazy writing.

            Bell is a charming performer whose sunny disposition has served her well in other comedic roles. She does get a few scenes in which the chemistry she shares with McCarthy approaches funny – there’s an extended gag in which Michelle is giving Claire advice about what bra she should wear out for a date where some passable physical comedy is on display from both actors. However, it’s all too clear that this is McCarthy’s show and she’s not going to let anyone steal it from her.

Dinklage, a consummate scene-stealer if ever there was one, is criminally underused as the main antagonist. He is entertaining with the little screen time he gets, but the character is little more than Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, complete with a Smithers in the form of his lackey Stephan (Timothy Simons). The actors who were considered for the role which would become Dinklage’s include names as varied as Oprah Winfrey, Jon Hamm and Sandra Bullock. This indicates there wasn’t really a strong idea for who the villain would be, other than a name actor. Bates gets even shorter shrift, appearing as Michelle’s spurned mentor Ida Marquette in two scenes. Dave Bautista showed up in the teaser trailer, but has apparently been cut from the finished film.  

            The Boss has a very sitcom-esque premise: powerful woman used to having things her way has to move in with her beleaguered assistant and shenanigans ensue. Because the germ of the idea feels so much like something you’d see on network TV (that would get cancelled after one season), the swearing and brazen sexual humour feel like they’ve been shoehorned in to make this an edgy, R-rated comedy – and edgy, The Boss absolutely is not. McCarthy’s numerous detractors are highly unlikely to be swayed by her latest starring vehicle, which comes off as little more than a flat, cynical exercise.

Summary: Playing a noxious, unlikeable character whose actions are given the flimsiest excuse, Melissa McCarthy’s comedic skills are largely wasted in The Boss.

RATING: 2 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong 

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

For F*** Magazine

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2

Director: Kris Pearn, Cody Cameron
Cast:  Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Terry Crews, Kristen Schaal
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family
Run Time: 95 mins
Opens: 10 October 2013
Rating: G

Cheeseburger in paradise (paradise)
Heaven on earth with an onion slice (paradise)
Not too particular not too precise (paradise)
I’m just a cheeseburger in paradise

So sang the aptly-named Jimmy Buffett, who may have well been crooning about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. The first film, released in 2009, was inspired by Ron and Judi Barrett’s classic children’s book, changing the premise from food whimsically raining from the sky to the delicious weather phenomenon being a side effect of a maverick scientist’s revolutionary invention.

In the sequel, we return to Swallow Falls, which has become a cheeseburger (among other food items) paradise, populated by a menagerie of “food animals”, all of which have punny names (think flamango, shrimpanzee, hippotatomus and tacodile – supreme!). The human residents of Swallow Falls have been relocated; iconic innovator and television presenter Chester V (Forte) of Live Corp stepping in to clean up. Flint Lockwood (Hader), responsible for the gastronomic precipitation in the first place, is thrilled as he has idolized Chester for years. Together with his pals – meteorologist Sam (Faris), his father Tim (Caan), man-child former bully Brent (Samberg), monkey sidekick Steve (Harris), neighbourhood cop Earl (Crews) and Sam’s cameraman Manny (Bratt), Flint ventures back to his now-transformed hometown. However, Chester V’s hidden intentions might pose some danger to the idealistic inventor, his friends and the food animals.

The best way to describe Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is “cynicism-proof”. It’s one of those films that, even to the jaded movie critic likes of us, is irresistibly charming and smile-inducing. The first film was lovably goofy, an earnest, highly visual comedy that didn’t seem like the result of a series of audience surveys, pie (heh) charts and test screening statistics the way some animated films turn out. Sure, it was heavy on the gags and certainly geared towards a younger audience, but there was plenty of stuff for grown-ups and older kids to enjoy, including a heartwarming father-son story and the spoofing of disaster movie conventions.



This entry takes on the form of an adventure flick, taking place mostly on an edible Mysterious Island, if you will. There are a few neat little homages to Jurassic Park, including a spoof of the patented Spielbergian “looking in awe shot”, the ripples in the glass of water, and Sam’s Ellie Sattler-esque attire on the island. The designs for the food animals and food people (these apparently are more sentient and sapient) are imaginative and amusing, not to mention mostly very adorable. You’ll most likely have problems eating strawberries for a while yet thanks to anthropomorphic strawberry Barry (voiced by co-director Cody Cameron). And you’ll definitely not be roasting marshmallows any time soon, either. Most food-related films make one hungry; this makes one feel warm and fuzzy instead.

The voice cast, including Saturday Night Live alums Bill Hader, Andy Samberg and Will Forte, are audibly having a (meat)ball, delivering high-energy performances to match the lively, colourful animation. Veteran actor James Caan reprises the role of Flint’s old-fashioned, well-intentioned dad with a laconic warmth and gets a cute moment in which he sings the line “teaching pickles to fish, that’s my crazy world”. Of the returning characters, the only absent cast member is Mr. T, who is replaced by Terry Crews. Crews tries his best, but never quite matches his predecessor’s iconic voice.



The film does fall into formula on several occasions. For example, this certainly isn’t the first time we’ve seen the childhood hero of our protagonist become something of a fallen idol. In spite of this, Chester V, something of a cross between Steve Jobs and Deepak Chopra, does have an interesting look to him. The character also has incredibly expressive arms that bring to mind Terry Jones’ character in the “Find the Fish” segment of Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (“I wonder where the fish did go?”). This being a kids’ film, plot points are often spelled out in block letters are there are chunks of exposition here and there, but things do keep moving enough to prevent this from becoming an issue.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is a sequel that doesn’t dutifully dole out more of the same in a rote fashion, but takes the characters on an engaging adventure in a vibrant world populated with endearing critters. Furthermore, the watermelophants, wildabeets and the “just a tomato” are a whole bunch more likeable than the Smurfs and the Naughties from Sony Pictures Animation’s earlier effort this year.

SUMMARY: A delightful second helping that doesn’t feel second rate.

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong