A black comedy that stars Jennifer Aniston as a dentist with a huge sexual appetite? Count us in and HBO Max is where we can see the film, now sitting at #9 on the streamers most-popular list.
Horrible Bosses stars Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day as everyday working men who are getting by in their jobs. Bateman, as Nick Hendricks, works hard for the promotion he believes is coming his way. Sudeikis, as Kurt Buckman, is like a son to chemical company owner, Jack Pellit (Donald Sutherland). Charlie Day, as Dale Arbus, is happily engaged and working as a dental assistant.
With things on the upswing for the three, life is about to change drastically, though not in a good way. The promotion Nick thought he was getting, instead, is given to his boss, by his boss. They are one and the same. Kevin Spacey is on board as Dave Harken, one of the three horrible bosses.
Kurt seems to be in line to take over the chemical company, that is until Jack drives away in his car and has a heart attack. The company now goes to Jack’s cokehead son, Bobby (played with manic glee by Colin Farrell).
Dale, who loves his job, is not so enamored with his horrible boss, Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S (Jennifer Aniston) an over-the-top sexually aggressive woman who will say anything and do anything to get into Dale’s pants.
All three men commiserate at the local bar about how horrible they have it at work. Then, Kurt’s offhanded joke about how life would be better without their bosses in them becomes more than a joke. The men begin to get serious about taking out their bosses.
The boys eventually back away from their idea until Dale is pushed into a corner by Julia’s sexual advances. She presents him with a choice, while she shows him “questionable” pictures she took of the two while he was unconscious – he does her, or she is going to tell his fiancé that he did do her.
Now, all three finally convince themselves their bosses must die.
Looking for someone who can do the job for them, they meet up with “Motherfucker” Jones (Jamie Foxx). He tells the guys he will be their “murder consultant” and gets them to agree to his plan – the boys kill the other’s boss and make the deaths look like accidents. Easier said than done for these three.
While Bateman, Day, and Sudeikis hit every mark, the real treat of this film is watching Spacey, Farrell, and especially Aniston as the horrible bosses. Spacey is solid as Harken, funny, and immediately despised.
Colin Farrell is great as the coke-sniffing tool of a son. He arrives with a combover and potbelly with one agenda. To ruin the business his father built.
Jennifer Aniston’s portrayal of Julia Harris is gloriously naughty and very much unlike any role she has played previously. From her hard R-rated language to the obscenely physically sexual way she conducts herself, it is a role Aniston was meant to play, and play it well she does.
“I know I had no hesitation…at all,” Aniston remarked about pushing the boundaries in taking on the role of the dentist with an insatiable appetite. “The raunchier the better,” Aniston says via Pop Sugar. “It was pretty easy. It really was.”
It was a role that one would typically see a male character playing, so for Jennifer Aniston, it made it much more enjoyable that the tables were turned. “Well, that’s what I think was so fun about it — being a female who’s usually a male character . . . and that’s sort of what made it that much more fun. I did go to the dentist right beforehand though to see how they hold the tools. The rest was easy.”
Seth Gordon directed the film from a script by a trio of writers, Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein. In what was very unexpected, Horrible Bosses was a massive hit at the box office. Gordon was given a $35 million budget and the film brought home nearly $210 million.
Professional life after Friends for Jennifer Aniston has been quite eye-opening as the material she chose to star in leaned more towards adult humor. She was in Rumor Has It…, The Break-Up, He’s Just Not That Into You, The Switch, and Just Go With It.
She then followed up Horrible Bosses with another R-rated film, Wanderlust, before re-teaming with Jason Sudeikis in the comedy We’re the Millers. Jennifer Aniston went on to star in Life of Crime and She’s Funny That Way before she’d be back in the sexual saddle again as our favorite dentist, Julia Harris, in the follow-up, Horrible Bosses 2.
Jennifer Aniston has always been a must-see when it comes to feature films. Her comedic timing is spot on and when she pushes the boundaries with adult humor, while shocking (or perhaps unexpected is more like it), it works for her.
Recently Jennifer Aniston teamed up again with Adam Sandler in the popular Netflix film, Murder Mystery while also starring in the critically acclaimed Apple+ series, The Morning Show, for which she won a Screen Actor’s Guild Award.
If you haven’t seen Jennifer Aniston in action in Horrible Bosses, you can check it out on HBO Max and if you haven’t seen her go all-in with adult humor, prepared yourself. You’re in for a fun ride.