Like a Boss is a poorly conceived, weak friend-comedy that features a couple fine actresses in Byrne and Hayek, but ultimately unfunny film with a plot that, even with a sub-80-minute running time (without end credits), was stretched thin.
Like a Boss
(2020)
Genre(s): Comedy
Paramount | R – 83 min. – $39.99 | April 21, 2020
Date Published: 04/11/2020 | Author: The Movieman
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Paramount provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2.0/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Best friends Mia (TIFFANY HADDISH) and Mel (ROSE BYRNE) run their own cosmetics company — a business they built from the ground up. But they’re also in over their heads financially, and the prospect of a buyout offer from an industry titan (SALMA HAYEK) proves too tempting to pass up. The beauty business is now about to get ugly as the proposal puts Mia and Mel’s lifelong friendship to the ultimate test. Review: Like a Boss is a movie with a super thin plot, which is perfectly fine for a comedy. The problem comes when, even with an okay cast, it doesn’t contain a single laugh or even a chuckle. Now, it’s not the worst comedy I’ve seen but not hard to see why it disappointed at the box office, taking in a mere $22 million domestically (and even fell 60% in its second weekend). The film stars and was executive produced by Tiffany Haddish who, despite appearing in film and television dating back to 2005, really came on to the scene with Girls Trip, a movie that received rave reviews from audience and critics alike, particularly for Haddish. Myself, not only was the movie terrible, even with a fine cast (love Jada Pinkett Smith, Regina Hall and Queen Latifah) but Haddish was the weak spot and I genuinely don’t quite get her style of humor (similar to Melissa McCarthy who has shown some aptitude for drama), and now this being my third film where she’s the star (the other was Night School), I don’t have much hope any future projects will have different results. Beyond Tiffany Haddish, though, the other two stars – and in fairness to all three actresses they don’t have much to work with – couldn’t save the day, and both Rose Byrne, whom I fell in love with after Wicker Park, and Salma Hayek didn’t exactly illicit much laughs either. Like a Boss was directed by Miguel Arteta who previously helmed a couple solid comedy-dramas, Youth in Revolt and The Good Girl, as well as Beatriz at Dinner, which explains how Salma Hayek got roped into this. He also was responsible for pure comedies that I never bothered to watch such as Cedar Rapids, Alexander the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. With Like a Boss, the failure wasn’t in the direction, which was pretty pedestrian even by comedy standards, but instead a half-baked script where even a couple talented actresses (namely Byrne and Hayek) could make it work. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.75/5 |
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This release comes with a slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Not a whole lot here, there are two Deleted Scenes (2:32), “Get Some” with Ron and Greg (2:17) and With Co-workers Like These, Who Needs Friends (5:41) featurettes. |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Paramount releases Like a Boss onto Blu-ray presented with a 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer. Being a “comedy”, the film is brightly lit so does show well in HD, colors are vibrant and detail sharp and well defined throughout. |
AUDIO – 4.75/5 |
| For some reason, comes with a pretty strong DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track, which is quite good. Of course, this being a comedy, any depth is on display with some bass-heavy pop-rap music in between Chrisphe Beck’s mundane score. Otherwise, the bulk is centrally located with the clear dialogue and some minor ambient noises. |
OVERALL – 2.0/5 |
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Like a Boss is a poorly conceived, weak friend-comedy that features a couple fine actresses in Rose Byrne and Salma Hayek, but ultimately unfunny film with a plot that, even with a sub-80-minute running time (without end credits), was stretched thin. |