MAN CAVE: Horrible Bosses, a character study

This Saturday I watched Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day attempt to plot the murder of their bosses. Could this foray into film be a gateway for three up-and-coming comedy geniuses?

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MAN CAVE: Horrible Bosses, a character study

POSTED: Monday, July 25, 2011, 3:00 PM

Filed Under: Man Cave

Man Cave is a testosterone-laden Monday feature that highlights the weekend haps of an everyday, pop-culture-loving Philly dude.

This Saturday I watched Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day attempt to plot the murder of their bosses. It felt a bit like I was watching a long episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia in a movie theater because the plot was about the grotesque plans by unrealistic jerk-offs and Charlie Day's performance was the funniest part. One feels both congratulatory and fearful of Day's fully established comedy shtick. He has cemented a successful "character actor" status, and that character is the infantile, panicky, fast-talking schemer we've grown to love over at It's Always Sunny. The congratulations are warranted, though, because prior to the Sunny show about our fair city, Charlie Day was a rather obscure comedy actor. This is his first leading role in a major studio comedy, and he really knocked it out of the park. The fear comes in when one notices the relatively limited lifecycle of such a character. If you recall, Jim Carrey only got a small handful of true victories before his shtick grew vomit-inducing, and was forced to reinvent his approach. Day's great and all, but one worries about how well he will fare with reinventions. I don't mean to pigeonhole him, and I certainly wish him the best. I just hope he paces himself now that offers are going to be pouring in.

Jason Bateman's gift for portraying morose reflection is part of what made Arrested Development such a win. He can often add dimension to an otherwise asinine comedy. Though, if I'm being honest, the attempt to give this film depth doesn't really work because at no point is it realistic that Batemen would ever agree to a murder plot (or even Sudeikis, for that matter). But that's fine, his character still has basic comedy value. You need a guy smart enough to make the other guys look like idiots, and a guy serious enough to make it funny when they all fall flat on their faces. It's like Krusty the Clown said, "Free comedy tip, slick: the pie gag's only funny when the sap's got dignity - like that guy! Hey Hal, pie job for Lord Autumnbottom, there!" And so was born Side Show Bob (but I digress).

Jason Sudeikis is also on a role. One of the best of a very strong last-quarter-decade SNL cast, Sudeikis has both straight-man utilities and madcap chops. If Charlie Day is the high-octane laugh zoo and Bateman is the purely reactive super-straight-man, Sukeikis straddles the mid-range comedy energy spectrum with deft skill. He is the Larry in this Three Stooges-esque tale, stepping occasionally into the Moe role when Day needs a slap in the face, or kicking it into ridiculous-mode if Day is required elsewhere for a time. This well-rounded talent seems the most likely of the three to have a long, dynamic comedy career, with Charlie Day likely to get stuck in the lowbrow end and Bateman often skewing melodramatic.

(ryan.carey@citypaper.net)

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