The Minority Report - "Horrible Bosses" (2011)

“I was looking at your boss. She makes herself a little snack. A popsicle. A banana. And finally, a hot dog. And eating them in that weird order—that's not a proper meal!”
Seeing the trailer of this movie for the first time, I thought it was a delightful spin on the typical ‘my boss is a jackass’ movie. Taking it to the next level, this group of likely idiots, each with their own horrible boss, is faced with a quandary: what to do about their terrible superiors? Watching this with friends was quite enjoyable, and I got to see it relatively early when it came out in my island. I expected quite a bit from this movie, as I usually possess quite a bit of apprehension when it comes to comedies, and I am happy to say that it didn’t disappoint.

The story centers around Nick Hendricks, Kurt Buckman, and Dale Arbus. At the start of the movie, we get a glimpse of their lives at work and of their bosses. Nick’s boss is a megalomaniac that pushes everyone to the edge while always seeming to get his own way. While Nick was convinced that he was going to get a promotion for always being on time and working his butt off, his boss was actually never going to give him the promotion he so desired. Instead, he is told that if he quits, his boss will ruin his future careers by lying about everything Nick has ever done. Kurt’s boss was the nicest man ever, according to him. One day, though, he died in a car accident. This left his only son in charge of running the business. Too bad he was a cocaine sniffing, racist, sexist, crazy, overall terrible person to everyone except for prostitutes. Dale’s boss is a dentist who can’t help but sexually harass everyone she comes into contact with, but especially him. Even though he is engaged and in love, she won’t back off and goes so far as to threaten to out the things she has done to him to his fiancée if he quits. Together at a bar, they all share stories about their working lives to a choir of sympathy (except for Dale, whom both say shouldn’t be complaining). Eventually, a plan hatches out of a joke—kill each other’s bosses. What ensues is both a hilarious and enjoyable journey with a group of misfits that can’t handle the easiest of tasks.

With an air of “The Hangover,” the movie was undoubtedly funny. The situations they are put through at work resonate with anyone that has ever held a job, and make you feel enraged at their treatment. These characters are nice, honest people that decided to do something about their predicament. The way the direction and cinematography of the movie flows is interesting, though I can’t put my finger on where it comes from or why it feels different. The sure thing one can expect from a movie like this is that there is a reflection of each of us in these characters. You can see yourself in one of them in at least one scene. The humor also feels honest and realistic. They each occasionally talk over and expand each other’s comments in a way that we do every day. This is what I believe can make or break a comedy. It can be funny, but if it doesn’t feel honest, it loses its power. This movie is like watching paint dry in the many offices around the world where horrible bosses preside.


By Kulguy

The Minority Report - "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" (2009)

This is Heath Ledgers final film. Well, his final half of a film as he died in the middle of production. “Then how was this movie completed,” you may ask. Well, simple you see! When Tony (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell) enters the imaginarium, he becomes a different actor, same person though. Tony, outside of the imaginarium (a mirror essentially that transports the visitor to a magical land of their imagination), is Heath Ledger, but as soon as he enters the mirror, he becomes another actor. This was a way of avoiding reshooting the entire movie and works for the most part. But I am not going to knock the film for its lack of continuity. I will knock it for other things, though. I will also give it praise.

This is the type of film that I hate to review. At moments it is a fantastic film that I must applaud for its pure creativity and all out madness. Yet, at other moments, I had to hang my head in sheer disappointment either from disappointing acting, an unraveling story that began so intriguing, or some spotty special effects. The premise for the film is an interesting one that spans out from the absurd, and pivots upon the ideals of making a deal with the devil. Doctor Parnassus makes multiple deals with the devil, and now it is time to pay. For this, he uses his powers (which he obtained ages ago) to transform a simple mirror into a gateway into one’s imagination. From there, they must conquer their vices and, if not, their soul becomes damned and claimed by Satan himself. What Doctor Parnassus does is try to present choices so that the world can “rule itself.” He tries to achieve this goal by making a traveling theater company which grabs members of the audience and makes them pass into the mirror. Once somebody enters the imaginarium, the pallet of the real world goes from dark and bleak into a burst of color and transforms the screen into a psychedelic adventure. At times in the imaginarium it is a fantastic whimsical land, but it can be spotty and sometimes easily dismissed. The story is also a very slow burning candle that has very little effort to help entertain the audience and get them to where they need to go and yet still manages to lose them at times.

This movie was an interesting thrill presented by the man who brought us Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It is a slight disappointment for it to be Heath Ledgers last moment on film. Overall, the movie is a very interesting story and presentation that may lose some audience on how it is approached. This movie is like paint drying on an M. C. Escher painting on acid.

By V-Dawg