Horrible Bosses

Movie: Horrible Bosses

Genre: comedy

Synopsis: Nick (Jason Bateman), Dale (Charlie Day) and Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and three friends who all have bosses-from-hell: played by Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston (a dentist) and Colin Farrell respectively.  They decide the bosses need to die – so they hire a murder-consultant played by Jamie Foxx.  Naturally, things do not go quite as planned.

My two cents:  I really liked this movie.  Kevin Spacey was great as an evil boss.  It was fun to watch Colin Farrell play someone so out of character.  Jason Bateman was his usual sober, dead-pan character.  Jennifer Aniston was … Jennifer Aniston.  The twist in the Stranger on a Train plot was pretty amusing.  My only serious problem was trying to believe that a single guy would be able to – for years – resist Jennifer Aniston’s non-stop quest to get him in bed.  It was kind of fun to see her slip out of her usual nice-girl and play something of a slutty nymphomaniac who seemingly has no limit to what she will do to get nail her dental assistant.

Bottom line: it would have been hard for a film with this much star talent to go wrong – and it went very right.  Lots of laughs. 

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Zookeeper

Movie: Zookeeper

Genre: comedy

Synopsis: Griffen (Kevin James) is a zookeeper who loves his job.  He is still getting over Stephanie (Leslie Bibb), who dumped him five years earlier.  Now Stephanie comes back into Griffin’s life and he hopes to have another shot.  On the down side, Stephanie’s most recent boyfriend (Joe Rogan – from News Radio) is determined to get her back.  This is when Griffin learns that animals can talk . . . and all of the zoo animals pitch in to give him advice on how to win the girl back. Rosario Dawson play another zoo worker and Ken Jeong plays another – really creepy – zoo worker.  And . . . it certainly appeared that the monkey here is the same one that was in Hangover II.

My two cents: A good Kevin James vehicle – much better for him than The Dilemma.  Rosario Dawson was great as a fellow zoo-worker.  Ken Jeungg seems to be specializing in playing disturbingly creepy characters.  By far, my favorite animal scene was when Griffin sneaks a morose gorilla out of the zoo and takes him to TGI Fridays for his birthday.

Bottom line:  probably won’t be up for any Oscars, but is good for some laughs . .  especially if you are a Kevin James fan.

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