I really didn’t know what to expect from “Horrible Bosses” since it was directed by Seth Gordon and his last film, “Four Christmases”, was less than impressive. However what I got was an enjoyable movie with funny and raunchy jokes, very humorous and well written characters, and the performances by the all-star cast are memorable and funny. That being said however, “Horrible Bosses” is still flawed with a few problems within its jokes; but that does not make it horrible. Though flawed, “Horrible Bosses” is still good.

The film tells the story of three men who are fed up with their bosses. One of the men is named Nick Hendricks. and he is played by Jason Bateman. He is a hard working man who works for Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), a man with an overly big ego and a self-centered boss. You can tell that Nick pretty much just wants to pound Harken’s face into the pavement. Nick’s hatred of him escalates when Harken doesn’t give the big promotion that Nick had lobbied for a long time.

We then meet Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) and he works as a dental assistant for Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston). He hates his job because of his boss as well. His boss is attracted to him, and I mean REALLY attracted him. She tries to seduce him every chance she can get. Dale doesn’t know why, but he hates his job because of it.

Finally we meet the third men in their group and his name is Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) and unlike the others he actually likes his job at first because the boss, played by Donald Sutherland, is actually nice. That is until the son of Donald Sutherland’s character takes over the chemical company where Kurt works. The son is named Bobby Pellitt (Colin Farrell) and he is cocaine addict and just a very rude person. Of course it is because of this change that Kurt now hates his boss and job.

The guys usually meet at a local bar and discuss their day and when they realize that their bosses are making their lives a living hell; they decide to do the best thing possible: Kill Them.

This is a funny movie. It is funny because of the performances, especially by the three unlikable bosses.  Kevin Spacey is very funny and unlikable as the boss of Jason Bateman’s character. He reminded me of his past performance from the movie “Swimming for Sharks”; his ego is over the top and that makes him unlikable. Jennifer Aniston gives one her most memorable and out of character performance as the dentist who tries to seduce her assistant. This is where the film gets most of its raunchy humor, and it is because of her personality that makes her unlikable. Colin Farrell also gives a comedic and unlikable performance as the cocaine addict boss. He too gives an unlikable performance. You are probably wondering why I am praising them because of their unlikable performances. Most of the time I reflect negatively on an unlikable performance, but this time it is not the case. In this film the more unlikable the boss character is, the better the performance. The Spacey, Aniston, and Farrell characters are suppose to be unlikable and they are convincing as the three hated bosses.

The jokes are funny and some of the jokes are not. Some of the jokes that do work are the situational comedy involving the three men trying to kill their bosses. There is one scene where the three guys try to dig up information on the Colin Farrell’s character because they want to know how to kill him. This scene is the funniest scene in the film because of the various situations the three guys put themselves in. Plus this scene will be pivotal later in the film. Some of the jokes are also hit-and-miss and some are mean-spirited.

Most of the raunchy scenes do work however it is also the weak point. Sometimes it does go over the top on the raunchy scenes and even though Aniston does give a good performance, she sometimes does go over the top. A cleaner, situational comedy is a bit more enjoyable than the raunchy comedy.

“Horrible Bosses” is not horrible. It is flawed but not horrible. I did laugh a lot because of situational comedy and its raunchy comedy. The performance by Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell are funny and unlikable at the same time and really enjoyed their presence every time they were on screen. Yes it may be flawed because of some hit-and-miss jokes but compared to everything else that has been released in theaters the past 2-3 weeks, “Horrible Bosses” is the one to seek out for some enjoyable laugh out loud humor (but leave the kids at home)

***|R| 98 Minutes