Filmology Rating: 1.75 out of 4

Melissa McCarthy stars in the movie The Boss as Michelle Darnell, a titan of industry who is sent to prison after she has been caught for insider trading. When she emerges ready to get back into the big business companies that she was once owner of, things do really work out as planned. The only person that gives her a second chance is her previous assistant Claire and her daughter Rachel. Soon, Michelle Darnell realizes that she could take Rachel’s Girl Scout hobby into a full time million dollar business.

Now there were some things that I think worked with this movie and then some things that just missed the bar. The good is Melissa McCarthy. She was hilarious throughout the entire movie. It was good to see her follow up with another funny movie after the very successful summer comedy “Spy”. The Boss Michelle Darnell was so foul mouthed, vulgar, and inappropriate with her humor that it is surprising. Now sometimes this works and sometimes this doesn't. The theater was bursting out in laughter on many occasions and so was I. However on many occasions, the jokes and the writing/ script miss its mark and because of this, McCarthy came across as unlikeable at times. Melissa carried this movie on many occasions. With a surrounding cast of Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, and some others you will recognize, she is the star of the movie for sure.

Now I have two very big issues with the movie. Number one is the writing and directing done by Melissa McCarthy’s husband Ben Falcone. As always, he is a small character in her movies but this time, he both wrote and directed this movie. I really do like the idea of them working together side by side to make movies together. However, he is not ready for the big leagues yet. His first time writing and directing a movie was the disaster that was the movie Tammy…. It was awful. While this was not nearly as bad as that, it still lacked depth and clarity. He needs to focus more on writing clear characters, good dialogue for everyone, and his style of directing. Specifically the writing for the villain Peter Dinklage and his assistant, and Kathy Bates needed a lot of work. These characters felt extremely awkward and just out of place. If they rewrote the characters for the villain and actually gave him more of a defined motive, he could have been far more believable. I feel that with time and more practice writing independent and lower budget movies away from McCarthy, Ben will be more ready for a future big budget movie with his wife.

Overall, I did enjoy this movie and it will have you laughing for sure. However, it lacks depth, clear writing, and definition to make it stand out as a well-rounded movie through and through.

Rating: Rent It 

-Nick