The Boss

"Watch your assets"

2016 1h 39m EN

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 1,422

Comedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A titan of industry is sent to prison after she's caught for insider trading. When she emerges ready to rebrand herself as America's latest sweetheart, not everyone she screwed over is so quick to forgive and forget.

“Watch your assets”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Melissa McCarthy
Michelle Darnell
Kristen Bell
Claire
Peter Dinklage
Renault
Kathy Bates
Ida Marquette
Tyler Labine
Mike Beals
Timothy Simons
Stephan
Kristen Schaal
Scout Leader Sandy
Ella Anderson
Rachel

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Ben Falcone
Writers: Ben Falcone, Melissa McCarthy, Steve Mallory
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 10 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Ben Falcone, shot by Julio Macat. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christopher Lennertz. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Craig Alpert shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Bell and Peter Dinklage carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Watch your assets".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt2702724 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ben Falcone directs. Julio Macat behind the camera. Christopher Lennertz scores. Craig Alpert cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 10 years ago.
2Directed by Ben Falcone, shot by Julio Macat. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Christopher Lennertz. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Craig Alpert shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Bell and Peter Dinklage carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Watch your assets".
7IMDB entry: tt2702724 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Julio Macat
Original score: Christopher Lennertz
Editing: Craig Alpert
Production design: Rusty Smith
Costume design: Wendy Chuck
Makeup / hair: Mi Young
VFX supervisor: Scott M. Davids
Sound: Ron Bartlett
Stunt coordinator: Todd Bryant
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $29,000,000
Box office: $78,844,582
Return: 272% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Boss (2016)

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Ben Falcone

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Frank Ochieng2016-04-12
No doubt that actress Melissa McCarthy has become a pop cultural phenomenon within the last few years. She has hit the jackpot in a career gone on a whirlwind upswing. McCarthy has just ended a six-year run from her Emmy-winning turn on the popular CBS sitcom Mike and Molly. She was Oscar-nominated for her performance in Bridesmaids. She has made a slew of hit-and-miss comedies. Her hosting stints on the legendary Saturday Night Live are riotous. McCarthy is part of the much-talked about upcoming female version of the wildly treasured 80's cult classic comedy Ghostbusters. Additionally, ardent fanatics of the 2000-2007 WB network TV series Gilmore Girls recently rejoiced when McCarthy agreed to join the Netflix revival show that previously endeared her to television audience years before. So yes...to say that Melissa McCarthy is on a continued roll with her ubiquitous presence in TV and movies is an understatement. In McCarthy's latest broad comedy The Boss she and her husband Ben Falcone ("Bridesmaids") collaborate as they--along with Steve Mallory--co-wrote the script with Falcone taking over the directorial duties. In fact, both McCarthy and Falcone co-wrote the 2014 vehicle Tammy starring McCarthy with Falcone in the director's chair as well. So it is a relief to see how this Hollywood couple bond creatively over their film projects. However, it is not all that encouraging that the Falcones have subsided over generic laughfests. On the surface The Boss could be perceived as a wacky female empowerment romp but dig deeper and this lackluster comedy has all the one-note comical deepness of a frizzled Phyllis Diller wig. McCarthy plays the brash and blistery Michelle Darnell, a Martha Stewart-esque CEO financial wizard with a convincing pretty penny that makes up her unbelievable fortune. In fact, Michelle happens to be the 47th wealthiest woman in America. Unfortunately, the law caught up with Michelle so now she is behind bars for inside trading. After months of doing "hard time" (in reality "soft time" for the jailed demanding diva), Michelle is released where she learns of her frozen assets and diminutive ex-lover and rival entrepreneur Renault (Peter Dinklage) who has taken over her multi-million dollar companies. With nowhere to turn for support Michelle decides to intrude on her long-suffering former personal assistant Claire (Kristen Bell). The tolerant Claire is a single mother to 10-year old Rachel (Ella Anderson). As one can imagine the insufferable Michelle is a terror in poor Claire's household with her bossy demeanor. Apparently Claire's nastiness is just not reserved for Claire as she has plenty of scorn to go around for the ones who dare to step in her way. Soon, Michelle discovers a way to get back into the capitalism game and recapture her status as a wealth-driven Wonder Woman. The agenda involves Rachel's Dandelion troop as inspiration for Michelle scheming to recruit the outcast girls from the Dandelions (dubbed "Darnell's Darlings) to sell the exceptional brownies based upon Claire's crafty recipe. Naturally, Michelle is hard on the little gals to push her need for reaching success but in her own caring way she wants to educate the Darlings to become strong, independent future businesswomen armed with potential power and poise. With Michelle's sad-sack backstory as a rejected little girl raised in a Catholic orphanage where many foster homes denied her existence it is clear that the seemingly cold and calculating Michelle does not want her hardship to be repeated in the group of girls she is grooming for the kill of conquering the business world. The Boss has some slapstick moments that are passable and the always game McCarthy is willing to do what it takes to sell the zany goods to ensure the hefty chuckles. Playing hard-nose harlots such as the coarse Michelle Darnell is McCarthy's specialty and she is effective when the material supports her tyrannical pushiness. However, The Boss feels lackluster because McCarthy's sketchy bits are slight and the movie's basic follow-the-dots lunacy is never on par with McCarthy's bombastic business-minded bulldog. The movie feels cheaply lifted from the hybrid boundaries of 1989's Troop Beverly Hills paired with 1988's Big Business. Thankfully, The Boss is not as tepid or forgettable as McCarthy's other outings such as the aforementioned Tammy or Identity Theft. On the flip side, this toothless romp will never rub shoulders with the more acceptable McCarthy staples in Bridesmaids, The Heat or Spy either. In short, this particular Boss ought to be demoted to the unemployment line. The Boss (2016) Universal Pictures 99 mins. Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, Ella Anderson, Kathy Bates, Tyler Labine Directed by: Ben Falcone MPAA Rating: R Genre: Comedy Critic's rating: stars (out of 4 stars) (c) Frank Ochieng
Reno2016-07-24
★ 3/10
Use on opportunity, build an empire and be the boss! I always liked Melissa McCarthy films when others said they were very bad, but this time it is totally different. I won't blame her, she always gives her one hundred per cent and so for this film. But it was the terrible script that let her down. Actually, it is a watchable film, because of her, but without her completely unimaginable. The trailer looked much better than the film. It is a comedy, but the laughs are too far, not even a little smile in your face easy to obtain. So it seems there are plenty of negatives about it than the good. I watched it to prove the people are wrong about it, but in the end I was wrong. This is the second time the director and McCarthy together for a film who are the real life couple. But I liked 'Tammy' better, not this one and there will be one more film that I hope they would come up with much more interesting than these two. She is not a solo type star, her films are always the multistarrer. So whenever I hear about her new films, I get curious about her new partner. Kristen Bell was not bad, even Peter Dinklage have given a nice performance. So The casting was good, but they all did not get the good script or the role. I did not enjoy it means not that I won't recommend it. It did not work for me, but it might to you, so I advise be carefully while choosing it. 3/10

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