The Boss Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

The Boss Blu-ray Movie Review

"You're fired!"

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 21, 2016

There may be no harder task in the movie review business than covering a Comedy, and a subjectively lousy one at that. Not only are Comedies almost purely, here's that word again, subjective in response -- seemingly more so than any other genre, at least -- but a (third time's the charm) subjectively bad Comedy can make for a painful watch and a struggle to come up with new ways of saying, in a word count that more or less satisfies the space that's in need of filling, "it's not all that funny." That's the challenge with The Boss, Director Ben Falcone's (Tammy) would-be laugher starring the otherwise, or at least oftentimes, funny Melissa McCarthy, whose career has been the subject of much discussion since her weight loss and the end of Mike & Molly (and the debut of Ghostbusters...won't that be a fun review). Based on McCarthy's original character created for an LA-based comedy troupe called "The Groundlings," the film version struggles to find its place and purpose amidst unoriginal gags, a script that never dabbles in any real novelty, and a hard pace that buckles under the burden of an indecisive storyline. Even the movie's on-screen talent, which can rightly be called "formidable," cannot save the film from its hackneyed construction and go-nowhere narrative.

The money shot.

Michelle Darnell (Melissa McCarthy) has it all. She's super-wealthy and super-powerful in the business world. She has tons of adoring fans. She's on top of the world, a world she's made for herself after overcoming a difficult youth. But when she's busted by her rival Renault (Peter Dinklage) for insider trading, she's forced into six months of hard tennis in prison. Upon her release, she finds everything she once had is gone: the home, the business, the possessions, the money. Her only recourse is to crawl to her old assistant, Claire (Kristen Bell), for a place to crash. She's forced to live the common life, doing her best to cuddle up on the sleeper sofa, but she soon learns she cannot handle the ordinary world. When a busy Claire asks Michelle to take her daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) to her Scout meeting, Michelle finds her new calling: rebranding the group's baked goods sales and turning it into a profit-driving machine. But when Renault catches wind of her success, he won't let her get back on top without a fight.

"It's not all that funny." There. But in the interest of word count, here goes why. First, one of the movie's opening scenes involves the audience getting a good look at McCarthy's gums. It's not that she's an unattractive lady, but...they're her gums. And the gag doesn't really work, not on its own and not in some strange character development scenario meant to build up the relationship between McCarthy's Michelle Darnell and Bell's Claire. Not the most endearing way to begin the movie. But that's quickly forgotten, and honestly had been were it not for the movie notes document on the old laptop. No, the movie's struggles stretch much further than McCarthy's lips. The biggest problem is that the movie has no identity, and doesn't seem to care if it ever finds one. It opens by following the exploits of an obnoxious, filthy-rich narcissist. Then it suddenly becomes Troop Beverly Hills with an attitude. Then it's a heist film with a guy in a phoenix suit and endless discussion about...fellatio. The film finds its most agreeable moments in that middle stretch, where it manages a semblance of an underlying heart and a story of redemption, but even that all falls apart during a lame street fight between dueling Girl Scout (or Dandelions, as the movie calls them) troupes that lacks any kind of vision for novelty and ends with brownies being shoved down someone's pants and the obligatory slow-motion "to the victors go the spoils" victory lap walk away from the scene. It might have been passably humorous if it wasn't structurally so cliché and if the entire premise wasn't so vapid.

The script also forces more lame dialogue into the film than the cast can handle. It tries too hard for cute and clever, self-deprecating at times and wholly unoriginal at others that only leads to characters who aren't poorly defined, but rather disagreeable. The movie does a fair job of painting the likes of Claire and her daughter, but McCarthy's Darnell struggles to find her footing, a problem considering it's her face splashed all over the poster. Yes she's disagreeable and self-centered, but whatever semblance of a transformation she undergoes, and whatever cruder business instincts come back to her when necessary, don't flow well at all. She's neither believable as a power-mad multimillionaire nor as a (somewhat) reformed entrepreneur. McCarthy, even with all her talent, struggles to find Darnell's core and maintain it for the duration. The movie is more concerned with in-the-moment gags and less the sort of respectable and identifiable development that would have heightened the humor but that is instead lost under its futile efforts to build from the top-down instead. In sum, "it's not all that funny." And not all that much of anything else, either.

The Boss Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Boss bursts onto Blu-ray with an attractive 1080p transfer. The digital source material shines. The image is clean and efficient, boasting well started colors and pinpoint details. The palette is varied and always capable, presenting the movie's lifelike rainbow of city, clothing, and accentuating colors with remarkable efficiency. Never does even a smidgen of color feel oversaturated or under developed. Textural detailing is excellent. Darnell's high-priced wardrobe is tremendously revealing, all the way up her turtlenecks. Fine fabric material is tangible down to the finest lines and seams, whether this high dollar garments or Claire's comfortable and heavily textured beige sweater. Facial textures, including plenty of heavy makeup, are precisely revealing. Exterior city textures are robust and little touches in Claire's apartment are stout. Black levels, whether shadowy corners in a dimly lit restaurant or nighttime black backgrounds, always satisfy. Flesh tones appear accurate. No digital source or compression artifacts appear in any serious quantities. This is a winner of a transfer from Universal.

The Boss Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Boss' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack doesn't feature an overload of surround activity, but the dominant front-end more than makes up for the lack of immersion. Music ranges from bouncy and buoyant to seriously aggressive with tons of low end support. Bass rocks and rattles at several junctures, notably early on during Darnell's convention appearance. Yet that scene, and some others where a wider sensation would be expected, do seem to lack a fuller, more robust sense of immersion. Indeed, surrounds only seem to chip in rather than push hard, but the font end's potency serves the track well. Scattered ambient effects also lack total environmental saturation, but they get the job done in terms of clarity. Dialogue dominates most of the film, and it enjoys natural center positioning as well as strong prioritization over surrounding elements. Note that the English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio descriptive track is only available with the theatrical cut of the film.

The Boss Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Boss contains several supplements, including deleted and alternate scenes, a gag reel, and several featurettes. Two versions of the film are included: Theatrical Version (1080p, 1:38:48) and Unrated Version (1080p, 1:44:14). A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy are included with purchase.

• Alternate Ending (1080p, 2:00): Falcon Rangers.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 14:10 total runtime): Convention Center Opening, White Sox, Claire Gets Hired at Her New Job, Claire Plays Chess with Rachel, Darnell Enterprises Building Lobby, Walking to Dandelion Meeting, Hallway Prior to Dandelion Meeting, Michelle Plays Chess with Rachel, Michelle Visits Tito, and Helipad Epilogue.
• Extended/Alternate Scenes (1080p, 16:15 total runtime): Bed Flip Scene Alternate, Carrot Top, They Do Look Moist, Kendo, Michelle Returns the Key, Security Guard - Extended, and Breaking Into Renault's - Extended.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 3:54).
• Michelle Darnell - Original Sketch (1080p, 7:25): A recording from Groundlings Theater that shows the original comedy sketch featuring the Michelle Darnell character.
• Origin Story (1080p, 7:16): This piece focuses on how key memebers of the cast and crew orginally met at Groundlings Theater. It includes footage from Groundlings with cast and crew interviews, behind the scenes footage, and scenes from the film.
• Peter Dinklage Gets to the Point (1080p, 8:41): Cast and crew discuss the character of Renault and how Peter Dinklage brings his style of comedy to playing that character. This supplement includes behind the scenes footage and scenes from the movie.
• Everybody Loves Kristen Bell (1080p, 6:50): Cast and crew discuss the fun and enjoyment of working with Kristen Bell, interspersed with behind the scenes footage and scenes from the film.

The Boss Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Boss sounds like a decent idea on paper, but its problems start with that paper. The script is a mess, failing to properly develop its lead character and beating around in an aimless effort to wrench in humor at the expense of its all-over-the-map identity. A few gags elicit a brief chuckle, but again, it's not all that funny. Subjectively speaking. Universal's Blu-ray does offer expert video, aggressive audio, and a fair allotment of extra goodies. Fans can, and should, buy with confidence. Newcomers should rent before committing to a purchase.