FILM

USA 2011  98 mins Dir: Seth Gordon Starring: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Donald Sutherland

We're going to be getting a lot of these. The success of 'The Hangover' was bound to result in a whole bunch of me-too projects in which a trio of middle-class white guys find themselves out of their depth on the seedy side of town. At least 'Horrible Bosses' boasts a killer premise (who hasn't wanted to murder their boss?), a fair quota of laughs and a trio of highly entertaining performances by Kevin Spacey (clearly enjoying himself), Jennifer Aniston (straying beyond her chick flick comfort zone for once) and a virtually unrecognisable Colin Farrell as the loathsome employers.

Nick Hendricks (Bateman) has learned the hard way that "the secret to success is taking shit". That's because he's a minion of the monstrous Dave Harken (Spacey), who's fond of sneering: "I own you. You're my bitch!" Kurt Buckman's (Sudeikis) kindly boss Jack Pellitt (Sutherland) has just moved aside to allow his vile, cocaine-addicted, idiot son Bobby (Farrell with a comb-over) to take over. They both think dental assistant Dale Arbus (Day) has it easy under sexually predatory Dr Julia Harris (Aniston), who's not above attempting to have her way with him over a comatose patient ("You're gonna give me your dong, Dale!"). But eventually all three friends snap and decide their bosses have to die.

The trio's bumbling attempts to hire a hitman lead to Motherfucker Jones (Foxx), a conman who's more than happy to exploit racial stereotyping as their self-styled 'murder consultant'. There's a comedic nod in the direction of 'Strangers on a Train' here, but the film is mostly concerned with modish envelope-pushing grossout, including a hilarious misunderstanding over the nature of 'wet work'. (Robin Askew)

Website www.horriblebossesmovie.com/

In cinemas Fri 22 July

Copyright Robin Askew 2011