'The Boss' - Should be fired!

I am convinced that Melissa McCarthy is the best female comedian in film today; she is also simply the best 'R' rated comedian in film. But for some reason, when she teams up with her husband Ben Falcone (co-writer & director), McCarthy seems to fall a little flat. Maybe it's the whole love is blind thing and perhaps they are simply too enamored with themselves to see the faults in a co-produced film. I'm not sure, but their first film working together as a married couple, 'Tammy' was just as predictable and full of listless material as 'The Boss'.

Now you take those two films ('Tammy' & 'The Boss') and compare them with any of the films she made with frequent partner Paul Feig (the hilarious 'Spy', 'The Heat' & 'Bridesmaids') you simply have to wonder why ion the world would McCarthy work with anyone else?

McCarthy is Michelle Darnell, a self made woman worth millions who loses it all because of a tip to the SEC by her hated ex-lover/rival Renault (Peter Dinklage of Games of Thrones) implicating her for insider trading. Locked up for 5 months, Michelle loses everything and upon her release ends up in the home of her former assistant Claire (Kristen Bell), a single mother raising her daughter, Rachel (Ella Anderson).  It's Rachels Dandelions Troop that inspires Michelle to build a homemade brownie empire and rebuild her fortunes.

Many of the gags in the film are so stand-alone, that the best are seen in the trailer. In fact, do yourself a favor and just watch the red band trailer for the funniest moments. Everything else in the film is either stupid, falls flat or seems to be tossed in to allow McCarthy some moments to riff improved dialogue.

I love 'R' rated comedies because it allows you to see people in real, raw situations. There is something side splitting seeing McCarhy go off on a foul mouthed rant. But in 'The Boss', expletives are tossed around with ease and with little to no impact, you simply become desensitized to it and it loses its comedic edge.

This is a disappointing 'C' that with a little more effort and fleshing out could've been a solid 'B' or 'A'.