Movie Review: “Horrible Bosses 2” (Rated R)

Photo Credit: John P. Johnson/© 2014 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC.(NEW YORK) — There are three Oscar winners in the cast of Horrible Bosses 2: Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, and Christoph Waltz. There’s also Chris Pine, the current face of the billion-dollar Star Trek sci-fi franchise, and Jennifer Aniston, hot off last year’s comedy hit, We’re the Millers. I haven’t even mentioned the three stars — Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day — all of whom bring their impressive bona fides to the table. 

It takes every bit of this star power to overcome Horrible Bosses 2’s many shortcomings.

After the surprising success of 2011’s Horrible Bosses, Nick (Bateman), Kurt (Sudeikis) and Dale (Day) are now taking their destinies into their own hands by becoming entrepreneurs. They’ve invented something called a Shower Buddy, a shower head that dispenses not only water, but also soap and shampoo.

We’re reintroduced to the fellas when they go on a local TV morning show to discuss the product in hopes of attracting an investor. It’s the strongest, funniest sequence in the whole movie — which is unfortunate, given that the majority of the film is yet to come.

Despite an embarrassing visual during a demo of how the shower head works, and the inexplicably racist name of their company, they attract an investor, a multi-billion-dollar company run by Bert Hanson (Waltz), who tells the guys he’ll distribute their product if they get loan, open a factory and produce half-a-million Shower Buddies. But once they do, Bert reneges on the deal, leaving the guys in a very deep hole.

Nick, Kurt and Dale hatch a plan to get their money back by kidnapping Bert’s obnoxious, cocky son, Rex, played by Chris Pine.  However, our heroes find every way possible to screw up their plan, to the point Rex actually forces them to kidnap him. It sounds funnier than it actually is.

If you’re easily offended, you have no business seeing Horrible Bosses 2 because you will find some of it nauseatingly offensive. If, however, you believe nothing is sacred when it comes to comedy, then Horrible Bosses 2 will provide you a few laugh-out-loud moments, but not enough of them to justify the price of theater admission. Wait until you can stream it at home.

Two-and-a-half out of five stars.

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