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Boss of It All, The

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Foreign
Written by: Lars von Trier
Directed by: Lars von Trier
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 23, 2007
DVD: September 18, 2007
Running Time: 99 minutes, Color
Origin: Denmark / Sweden / Iceland / Italy / France / Norway / Finland / Germany
Language(s): Danish / Icelandic / English / Russian (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Benedikt Erlingsson, Iben Hjejle, Anders Hove, Jens Albinus, Peter Gantzler, Henrik Prip, Mia Lyhne, and Casper Christensen
In this comedy, the owner of an IT firm wants to sell up. There is just one problem: back when he started the firm he invented a fictitious boss to hide behind when there were unpopular decisions to make. The would-be buyers insist on negotiating with the boss in the flesh and so the owner resorts to employing a down-at-heel actor to play the part. Suddenly, the actor discovers that he is a pawn in a game that sorely tests his (lack of) moral force. (IFC First Take)
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
The first of von Trier's efforts to be certifiably farcical.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Scott Foundas
Colors and angles and sound levels don't match from one cut to the next. The movie is ugly as sin to look at. But it's all intentional on the part of von Trier.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
The result is a kind of very faux documentary style, which, along with the subject matter, has suggested to some the influence of the BBC television series "The Office." Von Trier says he's never seen an episode, and I believe him.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Bone-dry but completely assured, both in its visual strategy and its wry deconstruction of the workplace comedy genre.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
Von Trier's proficiency at the quicksilver business of comedy comes as a surprise, given the grinding seriousness of earlier films.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
With echoes of "Dave," in which Kevin Kline takes over for the comatose U.S. President he resembles, Kristoffer begins to feel the power given to him and to make his own decisions, leading to some hilarious situations and an unpredictable ending.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
The Boss of It All finds the common ground between business and acting -- panicky improvisation -- and wonders whether applause or an executive comp package is the greater reward.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
Funny is not a word often used to describe von Trier's output, but "Boss" definitely is that, thanks to a breezy script and a bright cast.
Read Full Review >Variety Leslie Felperin
For all its slightness, pic is helmer's least pretentious and most sheerly enjoyable for years.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
Like all of Mr. von Trier's films, The Boss of It All is a cold, misanthropic work that places no faith in institutions and in humanity itself. But it's also very funny.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
No one is likely to rank "Boss" on the same level as his more somber and ambitious efforts, but Von Trier admirers will be pleased to discover that, even while working in a far less consequential mode than usual, the ever-uninhibited filmmaker's distinctive flair is in full force.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
There's a comment in here somewhere about leadership and authorship, and it's not that we're laughing too hard to fully comprehend it. In von Trier's world, the laugh is often ON the audience, not WITH the audience.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
This satire of empty-suit capitalism has scalding moments, but most of it suggests Being There meets The Office gibberized into theater of the absurd.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
The Boss Of It All, though clever as a piece of genre deconstruction, isn't terribly funny.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
It's a modest and mildly funny effort, with good scenes and touches of incisive satire, but it's not quite funny enough, and it's undermined by its camera technique.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
David R. gave it a2:
Is Von Trier even trying anymore? Glad to see people have stopped paying attention to his films and are realizing The Idiots was a fluke. Keep Dogme95 back in 1995 when Von Trier was a goat herder and a real filmmaker like Michael Mann was finishing his masterpiece Heat.
