THE BOSS 2016 MOVIE

Director: Ben Falcone
Writers: Ben Falcone (screenplay), Steve Mallory
Stars: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage

The Boss 2016 Movie 

The Boss." At their core, both films are good-hearted, but this blissfully R-rated vehicle for Melissa McCarthy  carries a raucously acidic sting that would make Long's Phyllis Nefler blush. Writer-director Ben Falcone (2014's "Tammy") and co-writers McCarthy and Steve Mallory have woven a narrative in need of a little more focus and follow-through, but they do succeed where it most counts. First and foremost, this is a very The Boss 2016 Movie funny movie, sometimes uproariously so. Inspired by a character she originated during her time performing in L.A.-based improv group The Groundlings, McCarthy has once again breathed irrepressible life and spirit into a truly original creation.

Michelle Darnell (Melissa McCarthy) is the 47th wealthiest woman in America, a thought-unstoppable CEO of three Fortune 500 companies who receives a rude awakening when she is arrested for insider trading. Following a five-month stint in federal prison, Michelle is dismayed to learn she has lost everything her companies, her reputation, her mansion, her possessions, and all her money. With nowhere else to turn, she convinces her overworked, underappreciated former assistant, single mom Claire (Kristen Bell), to let her stay with her until she gets back on her feet. 

                                             

Feeling sorry for herself can only last so long, and soon Michelle's innate cutthroat drive to succeed has her scheming her next venture. Inspired by Claire's delicious homemade treats and Claire's daughter Rachel's (Ella Anderson) Dandelion troop, Michelle recruits a group of get-getter young girls and spearheads Darnell's Darlings, a for-profit brownie business. Heartened by her old boss' offer to make her a 50-50 partner, Claire agrees to join forces on this endeavor. For someone who, as a child, was constantly rejected by foster families and raised in an orphanage, Michelle still has trust issues a lifelong hang-up which threaten to dismantle Darnell's Darlings as she gets closer to Claire and Rachel.

There is an outrageously funny scene in "The Boss," set at a five-star restaurant where Michelle is determined to enjoy her pufferfish cuisine, that is so perfectly written, performed and edited for maximum comic impact it scarcely would matter even if the rest of the film fell flat (it doesn't). If the top priority of a comedy is to make the audience laugh, this one more than succeeds; on two separate occasions, including the one mentioned above, tears streamed down my face while uncontrollable hysterics and gasps for oxygen took over. As often is the case with movies where a lot of gags and one-liners are tossed at the screen in hopes of sticking, not every joke hits its target. More do than not, though, and the pretty consistently amusing results do wonders to smooth over a predictable plot trajectory and obligatory ploys in the third act to redeem Michelle and her unsavory-at-best, awful-at-worst behavior.