Going into Like a Boss after being bombarded with trailers on network television, I didn’t expect much. I thought that this was going to be bad movie the way that I thought Jexi was, as in “a dumb premise that’s so bad it’s funny”, but unfortunately that was far from the case, because this movie is just…bad.
What started out as a decent premise, almost a Devil Wears Prada kind of vibe but for new generations, was ruined by lazy writing and an unoriginal plot. The unfortunately poor execution from Miguel Arteta and the rest of his production crew make it one of the worst movies I have seen in a long time. It tries to be funny, but 90% of the jokes fall flat, and a good chunk push the boundaries for political correctness. The delivery of the cast when doing those lines make listening to the jokes extremely obnoxious, to the point where they almost feel forced. To add onto that, plot point after plot point becomes extremely forced and predictable, especially if you’ve seen enough movies like this.
The film follows two close friends, Mia (Tiffany Haddish) and Mel (Rose Byrne), who run a small cosmetics shop from the comfort of their home, aptly named “Mia & Mel”. They’re basically the typical “odd couple” of a comedy duo: Mia’s the funny and creative one, Mel is the reserved and sarcastic one. They’re doing well, at least according to their income, but everything changes when beauty mogul Claire Luna (Salma Hayek) buys a very large share of their company. Luna is determined right off the bat to destroy Mia & Mel’s friendship and company and give it all to herself, and tries throughout the film to ruin their lives. I don’t want to spoil anything, but her attempts at getting this sort of control over the company are pathetic and end up ruining her life, as is expected in this mess.
The most frustrating part of this film, however, is the misuse and underuse of a terrific cast. Haddish and Byrne, two terrific comedic actresses, try the hardest to sell their characters and make something out of nothing, yet they are only held up by their accidental humor that comes from lackluster writing and production on the team’s side. Their chemistry is good, but feels forced due to poor dialogue. Salma Hayek is unfortunately not given enough to work with either, but you have to give her credit for at least trying to have fun with her role and going all-out to play the part of a Miranda Priestly-style evil cosmetics mogul – crazy wig, bright clothing, fake nails and all.
But I think the award for “Worst Under-Utilization” has to go to Billy Porter. He is one of the best “triple threat” celebrities right now (and if you don’t believe me, go look up Kinky Boots performances on YouTube), and has shown a wide range of acting abilities, yet he’s never really found his niche in the film industry. In this film, he’s hopelessly typecast yet again as Barrett, Mia and Mel’s gay assistant. His entire character is based on the enduring stereotypes that all gays are weak, sassy, and love Broadway and fashion, and that’s it. Despite being an awesome actor and performer, he is given absolutely nothing to work with from the get-go, and it just feels like a mismatch of all of the roles he’s played before. The lazy attempts at diverse representation in this film ultimately make Porter’s inclusion feel more stereotypical than other similar characters he’s done.
All I can say about this movie is this – it’s really just a hot mess that tries to have something going for it, but ultimately fails. While this would make it the typical dump month comedy film, Like a Boss is just so lazy that it plays in a league of its own.
1/5 STARS