Horrible Bosses
Metascore
57 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 40 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 40
  3. Negative: 5 out of 40
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  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    Jul 7, 2011
    38
    I say kill off everybody else and bring back Farrell for the sequel.
  2. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Connie Ogle
    Jul 7, 2011
    38
    Slow-witted, clumsy and almost pathologically reliant on crude name-calling for laughs - Horrible Bosses represents the lowest end of the comedy spectrum.
  3. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    Jul 8, 2011
    33
    The coarseness wouldn't be so bad if at least the steady stream of obscenities were funny.
  4. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    Jul 7, 2011
    30
    Horrible Bosses has preposterousness to burn, but no finesse and no interest in having any.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    Jul 5, 2011
    30
    The lameness of the gags and dialogue and the film's frequent deep dives for the bottom at the expense of real comedy speak to desperation in Hollywood to figure out the audience for contemporary naughty comedy.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 299 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 74 out of 93
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 93
  3. Negative: 8 out of 93
  1. jdrandall38
    8
    Very solid film. The comedy wasn't gross out and stupid, it was somewhat articulate. I didn't feel like I was a little kid getting read a story like I have with the past few comedies I have seen. Jason Sudekis, Charlie Day and Jason Bateman are very funny together. You have the Player (Sudekis), the Mature One (Bateman) and the Crazy (Day) much like the Hangover. Very watchable and very funny. 8 out of 10… Full Review »
  2. hoops2448
    2
    The perfect adjective for Horrible Bosses is right there in the title. Horrible Bosses is an abysmal attempt at eliciting laughs out of disturbing and disgusting situations. Bosses has a decent cast with Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell and Jennifer Aniston playing the bosses. All three give decent performances considering the material they are given (Spacey even makes a joke about a grandmothers nickname pass as funny despite the fact its awful. I mean you feel bad for laughing not because of how mean Spacey is but because you feel as though you just degraded yourself.) Its the trio of actors who try and pass as the sympathetic yet weird underlings who plan to have their bosses murdered Strangers on a Train style who let the side down (if the script hadn't already done that). Jason Sudeikis brings nothing to the table despite his extensive comedy work on Saturday Night Live, Jason Bateman just plays the same old regular everyman character that he does in just about everything (Where is State of Play Jason, I liked that guy). Finally Charlie Day, as funny as he is on Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia seems to shout his lines in hope that loud noises will be interpreted by the audience as amusing instead of just plain annoying. Its a film that grates constantly because it never gets the dark comedy tone right because its too busy relying upon Hangover style jokes involving pubic hair and nymphomania (not necessarily in that order)… Full Review »
  3. Bikerjames
    5
    Thanks Hangover. Now that you were so successful with the buddy trio movie we are going to have to suffer through all the wannabees. The only problem is that the Hangover was not predictable. This movie was like an extended bad TV sitcom. Everything was predictable. I laughed twice, and looked at my watch at least 4 times wondering when it would end. I admit, however, that other people in the audience were laughing a lot more than I was, so others liked it more than I did. I also have to say that all the guest stars seemed to be having fun. Kevin Spacey in particular seemed to revel in his bad guy persona. Colin Farrell wasn't used enough, and Jennifer Anniston looked like she was having fun. Too bad the writing just wasn't up to par for me. Example - how many times have we seen someone find a container of cocaine and either drop it or sneeze on it? The whole movie was unoriginal and predictable like that. And VERY sitcomy. People don't act like this in real life.… Full Review »
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