Friends Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman), Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) and Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) have had enough of working for their nightmare bosses, so they concoct an elaborate plot to get rid of them for good. With the help of ex-con and 'murder consultant', Dean 'Motherf*****' Jones (Jamie Foxx), they devise a plan to kill each other's bosses and make their deaths look accidental.
Nick's boss Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey) gets off on withholding promotion, while dental assistant Dale is tormented by his sexually aggressive boss Julia (Jennifer Aniston). Kurt, meanwhile, has been doing the bidding of his late boss's amoral coke-addict son Bobby Pellitt (Colin Farrell). Can the bumbling buddies bump off the terrible trio without getting caught?
This delectably dark comedy features a mouthwatering line-up of comic talent. While Bateman, Sudeikis and Day utilise their likeable personas well, Aniston and Farrell stand out - playing deliciously against type. The former Friends star clearly enjoys shaking off the shackles of her America's Sweetheart persona, while Farrell is unrecognisable, sporting a horrific comb-over and an attitude to match.
Drawing some criticism for its near-the-knuckle jokes, Horrible Bosses isn't afraid to go into morally dicey territory. But directed by Seth Gordon, the filmmaker behind rapturously entertaining documentary The King of Kong, this comedy is definitely more 'boss' than horrible.
Horrible Bosses is a Film programme that first aired in 2011 and has been classified a 15 certificate.
