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Boss of It All, The
IFC Films


6.6

based on 17 reviews
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How did we calculate this?

based on 5 votes
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Rate this movie

MPAA 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)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Foreign
WRITTEN BY:	Lars von Trier
DIRECTED BY:	Lars von Trier
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: September 18, 2007 Theatrical: May 23, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	99 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Denmark / Sweden / Iceland / Italy / France / Norway / Finland / Germany
LANGUAGE(S):	Danish / Icelandic / English / Russian (with English subtitles)

Original title "Direktøren for det hele"

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.

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.

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.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Bone-dry but completely assured, both in its visual strategy and its wry deconstruction of the workplace comedy genre.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Variety Leslie Felperin

For all its slightness, pic is helmer's least pretentious and most sheerly enjoyable for years.

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.

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.

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Screwball office comedy.

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.

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.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

The Boss Of It All, though clever as a piece of genre deconstruction, isn't terribly funny.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Cynical, misanthropic and embittered.

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.

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.

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Boss of It All, The IFC Films

Boss of It All, The
IFC Films