‘The Boss’ Review: Meh, I’ll Watch Anything With Melissa McCarthy

Last weekend, instead of seeing Batman and Superman punch and kiss each other, or whatever that movie is about, Americans turned out in droves to see Melissa McCarthy put on a wig and fall down a bunch of stairs.

The Boss made $23.48 million dollars in its opening weekend, not necessarily because of good word of mouth (in fact, it’s kind of been getting bad word of mouth) but because people will see films that Melissa McCarthy is in simply because she is in them. In the space of five years she’s become one of those movie stars like George Clooney or Meryl Streep who people will pay to see in anything — even if the things that she’s in aren’t always actually that good (ahem Tammy, ahem ahem Identity Thief). McCarthy has starred in six wide-release films that have grossed over $20 million opening weekend, in a row.

Her latest, The Boss, is better than Tammy but on the whole it also lets her down.

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Girl Bosses, ‘Lean In’ And Female Bosses In Pop Culture

The Boss is about a self-made millionaire Michelle Darnell (McCarthy) who spends her time advising stadiums of fans on how to get rich, and mistreating her long-suffering, but ambitious assistant Claire (Kristen Bell). Unlike other celebrity millionaires, Michelle’s brand is not Martha Stewart lifestyle-affiliated (though she does rock rich woman turtlenecks in literally every scene) it’s much more aggressive and rooted in the world of finance.

But when Michelle is arrested for insider trading, she loses her fortune and social standing. Michelle’s callous approach with her business associates and rich friends (she tells one former pal that his deceased wife is probably in hell for “fucking the entire I.T. department”) means that she’s now got no one to turn to. So she arrives on Claire’s doorstop and soon devises a plan to win back her financial success: starting a Girl Scouts-esque group that sells brownies using Claire’s secret recipe.

As the title suggests, The Boss is primarily concerned with Michelle Darnell’s quest to once again dominate the business world. As she makes very clear throughout the film, she doesn’t need any friends, let alone family, to make this happen. Predictably that’s where the tension arises: Michelle is a fantastic businesswomen, but her rejection of personal relationships is presented as her greatest weakness. It makes her uncomfortable when Claire’s daughter Emma starts to consider her as part of the family. This implication is, that while Michelle is very business savvy, her inability to show vulnerability with people often leads to her downfall (her old mentor played by Kathy Bates, who she spurned by cutting out of a deal, says that she once considered Michelle “family” but saw that that was a mistake).

Female bosses on screen are often confronted with the conundrum that being a good boss means that their personal life must be suffering in some way — think Andi in The Devil Wears Prada rejecting Miranda Priestly’s successful business approach as too ruthless and cruel. This sometimes happens in movies like Liar Liar, where male executives ignore their families, only to realise at the end that they were more important than work all along. Of course, in these films men can eventually have it all (keep a successful job and put in time with the family) and women either need to choose between the two, or attempt some softness in the workplace and at home.

Pop culture’s focus on the ‘girl boss’ has increased of late. There’s Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In, which is considered a bible to many about female leadership and the trappings of ‘likability’ in the workplace. Also the ‘I’m Not Bossy, I’m The Boss’ video inspired by Lean In, and NastyGal founder Sophia Amaruso’s self-help manual literally titled, #GirlBoss. With all this, there has been a shift in the conversation when it comes to women in the business world, which focuses on not just how to get to the top, but how to confront the barriers you’ll meet when you get there.

This movie is obviously influenced by a self-empowerment ‘girl boss’ mentality; part of Michelle and Claire’s business plan is contributing to the college tuition of their young employees and teaching them that sweetness and likability isn’t necessary for success. The best parts of The Boss involve Michelle’s young brownie sellers, who often aren’t scared to get into physical tussles with rival community groups to protect their turf (“Focus on the aggressive girls,” Michelle says to Rachel, while they’re picking their crew). One of the young girls Crystal, sells brownies by alternating two approaches: crying on doorsteps, and saying deadpan: “Buy my brownies, or I’ll kill you.”

The fact is, in pop culture men rarely get asked how they balance work and home life. It seems like Michelle’s rejection of family in The Boss is tied to a rejection of anything that could weaken her image as a hardass money-maker. It was kind of refreshing that the family relationship that was at stake, wasn’t with her own child and partner.

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… But It’s Definitely Not Melissa McCarthy’s Best Film

Although The Boss touches on some interesting ideas, it’s a bit inconsistent. Directed by Ben Falcone, who is McCarthy’s husband and frequent collaborator, it features scenes that inexplicably go on for too long, or just shouldn’t exist in the first place. There’s a subplot about Michelle’s Darnell’s ex-lover and business nemesis, played by Peter Dinklage, that never really takes off. The jokes don’t always land.

But when the jokes do land, they’re really, really funny because Melissa McCarthy is really, really funny. I do not usually enjoy slapstick, but the way that she contorts her face seems to kill me in a way that no other comedian can. Maybe I’m still not used to seeing women swear like that on screen, but man, with every profanity-laden line makes me love this actress more and more.

The Boss is not McCarthy’s strongest work, but only because the movie itself is not strong; the idea that only Paul Feig, who directed her in (Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy) can unlock some sort of comedic genius in McCarthy is ludicrous. His films are objectively better than The Boss but the idea that McCarthy needs Feig’s guidance to make her funny, isn’t accurate.

The more likely scenario is that Ben Falcone just isn’t a very good director, and that Paul Feig remains one of the best comedy directors in the biz (also, one who actually seeks out stories starring female comedians). McCarthy is still funny in this film — the character she’s playing is great, but the structure around it lets her down. At the rate McCarthy is putting out movies, of course not all of them are going to be The Heat.

What I appreciate is that McCarthy isn’t just sticking to what she knows and churning out sequels to her previously successful films. Instead she’s challenging herself to be funny in different realms (and different wigs) and I’ll probably always pay $22 to see what she does next.

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The Boss is released in cinemas today.