The Boss
Universal Pictures | Release Date: April 8, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
20
Negative:
14
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoApr 7, 2016
The loosey-goosey fun might be a bit much at the finish, but it’s still a laugh watching McCarthy try to get back on her feet. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerApr 6, 2016
The Boss, without quite reaching the heights of McCarthy’s work with Paul Feig, establishes its star as sort of a comic auteur — which is not the same as repeating herself. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerMolly EichelApr 7, 2016
It's not great, either, but it is better than mediocre. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 7, 2016
The result this time is just as hit and miss. But when it hits, yowsa. Read full review
62
The VergeTasha RobinsonApr 26, 2016
The script glosses over everything that's important to the characters, which makes them vague and poreless. Some sense of specificity, about virtually anything, would be helpful for making them seem less like bare story functions and gag-delivery systems. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 7, 2016
The movie is funny without being much good; mostly, it’s another rung on Ms. McCarthy’s big ladder up. It’s a fitful amalgam of bouncy and slack laughs mixed in with some blasts of pure physical comedy and loads of yammering heads. There isn’t much filmmaking in it, outside of Ms. McCarthy’s precision comedic timing and natural screen presence. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattApr 8, 2016
A few moments are fantastically bonkers, but granting director duties to McCarthy’s husband, Ben Falcone, feels more like an act of love than wisdom. Read full review
58
ConsequenceBlake GobleApr 7, 2016
After their muddled but well-meaning Tammy, McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone’s follow up is a superior mix of jokes, to the point that even when the film misses its mark, McCarthy and her crew wheel and deal to the bitter end. Read full review
58
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallApr 7, 2016
The Boss feels like a fun character gradually wasted. Read full review
58
The PlaylistRuss FischerApr 6, 2016
McCarthy has a great knack for vicious verbiage, and in combination with her supreme physical control there's pleasure in seeing Darnell tear an opponent to shreds, even (or especially) when she's in the wrong. Read full review
58
IndieWireEric KohnApr 6, 2016
Melissa McCarthy is hilarious in every scene of The Boss, but the movie rarely keeps up with her. Read full review
50
New York PostSara StewartApr 7, 2016
McCarthy shines when loosely riffing, but the plot tightens around her like a vise. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisApr 7, 2016
Though Michelle’s transformation into a family-loving gal is hardly convincing, the film still moves along quickly, and McCarthy has some memorable moments in which her comic chops are on full display. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenApr 6, 2016
There are a lot of laughs in The Boss. The problem is that the space in between them is stagnant and shapeless. Falcone, who also directed and co-wrote "Tammy," is a dud as a filmmaker. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittApr 6, 2016
The raucous comedy fails to keep up with its charismatic star. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonApr 6, 2016
A sporadically funny film that has moments of real heart in what’s otherwise a formulaic study of an aggressive businesswoman who learns to stop being so selfish. Read full review
42
The Film StageDaniel SchindelApr 6, 2016
The Boss can at least be appreciated for trying to lead its main character on an honest-to-god arc, which is more than many loosey-goosey movies of its ilk can say. Read full review
40
Total FilmKen McIntyreJun 9, 2016
It’s not funny or inspirational, just loud and trite. Read full review
40
EmpireJames WhiteJun 6, 2016
Fitfully funny but failing to really build to much of anything, The Boss is mostly a bust. Even its main character would have a hard time buying it. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfApr 10, 2016
First you laugh at McCarthy’s harshness in front of the kids, who aren’t used to her screw-the-competition ethos, then you sigh realizing this is no School of Rock. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenApr 7, 2016
The movie isn't fantastical enough to sustain itself outside the bounds of reality, yet every time something real creeps in, the movie stumbles and cowers. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghApr 7, 2016
There are brief bursts of hilarity, and they are all, without exception, owed to McCarthy’s innate charisma and comedic timing. Read full review
40
VarietyJustin ChangApr 6, 2016
McCarthy, who can toss off an insult like “Suck my d—k, Gigantor!” and give it a vague impression of wit, coaxes forth just about every laugh and stray chuckle that could possibly have been extracted from the material. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckApr 6, 2016
Its paper-thin characterizations, hackneyed plotting and overdependence on viciously profane humor put this effort more in the minor league of Tammy, McCarthy's previous collaboration with her director/co-screenwriter husband Ben Falcone, than her truly inspired work with Paul Feig on Bridesmaids and Spy. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonApr 5, 2016
The Boss is a better film than Tammy, but it still flounders, almost capsizing in its sloppy final third. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerApr 7, 2016
A lazy Melissa McCarthy vehicle that relies on relentless potty-mouth moments. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineEric HendersonApr 7, 2016
The incongruity between Melissa McCarthy's eagerness as a performer and her character's total lack of compassion makes the film somehow both restless and tedious. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzApr 7, 2016
Throughout its last hour it keeps jumping into your lap and demanding love without doing anything to earn it. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 7, 2016
The Boss has zero finesse as a comedy. Read full review
38
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldApr 7, 2016
McCarthy’s trademark blend of chipper likability and treble-voiced rage just isn’t quite enough to carry things through. Read full review
37
Washington PostAnn HornadayApr 7, 2016
Although her charisma is still undeniable, there’s also no denying that McCarthy is capable of much more than she’s allowing herself to do here. There comes a point when every force of nature starts to look just plain forced. Read full review
30
TimeStephanie ZacharekApr 7, 2016
Crude gags mingle with squishy, underdeveloped messages about family and belonging and empowerment. And while self-abasement is part of the comedian’s toolbox, there’s something depressing about watching as a chortling Michelle airs her unmentionable area while spraying herself with self-tanner. McCarthy deserves better than this. She can aim higher. Read full review
30
ScreenCrushMatt SingerApr 6, 2016
It’s a comedy that seems perpetually in search of laughs it almost never finds, as if the filmmakers showed up on the first day of production, looked at the script, and realized they’d forgotten to write any jokes, and then had to scramble to find some on set. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerApr 8, 2016
I persist in believing that Melissa McCarthy is capable of starring in a movie that not only makes a scads of money but is – you know – good. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 7, 2016
I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Michelle Darnell was a hilarious onstage comedic creation. On film, she is a flimsy, one-dimensional, tiresome character, surrounded by equally unconvincing and unfunny players. Read full review
25
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 6, 2016
The laughs don’t even land with a thud. In The Boss, they almost never land at all. Read full review
20
TheWrapDan CallahanApr 6, 2016
It isn’t comedy, and it isn’t drama, much less comedy-drama. Read full review
20
The GuardianJordan HoffmanApr 6, 2016
Many of The Boss’s troubles stem from its constant, unpredictable shifts in tone. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe DziemianowiczApr 6, 2016
If they gave out badges for smutty language, this movie would have lots. There’s nothing wrong with that. But filthy doesn’t automatically equal funny. Read full review
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