The Boss (2016), R, ★1/2

Melissa McCarthy is the boss.

How do you make money? Well, there's plenty of ways to make money but some in the right way and some in the wrong way. However, this may be that type of movie from a comedic standpoint but it's handled in somewhat of a predictable and unfunny way. And, that is a shame because Melissa McCarthy headlines the movie with such fantastic talent but has an inconsistent record because of Paul Feig's record with her with some good movie and also working with others such as Identity Thief and the terrible Tammy. I'd put this film in the latter category but it's better than those two movies at the very least but it's still a bad movie.

Michelle Darnell (Melissa McCarthy) is a businesswoman who has been treated miserably in the past as an orphaned child but then she says that she would be fine alone. She has a following because her many self-help books on how to get rich in life without their family. She tells readers and fans that they will be fine. Her assistant, Claire (Kristen Bell), is working with Michelle and is trying to get into a deal with rival businessman, Renault (Peter Dinklage), who likes to think himself as a samurai.

After an interview with Gayle King, Michelle is arrested for insider trading. Her properties and assets have been seized according to her lawyer (Ben Falcone). Four months later, Michelle is released from  jail and everybody says goodbye to her including a prison guard and she assumes that a car is waiting for her but there's none outside the gates. Her house has been foreclosed and has to stay at Claire's apartment with her daughter, Rachel, since Rachel wants Michelle to stay with her. And, ultimately, Michelle has to find out who set her up. It's pretty obvious who did it right from the get-go, though.

McCarthy and her army of girl scouts.

Boy, the jokes are predictable all the way through the movie and I was very disappointed by the result because the movie is really focused on McCarthy's unlikable character that insults people and treats kids like scum. She also supports the Girl Scouts into fighting like nasty criminals especially a scene that is stretches into an unfunny act that somehow is treated like a terrible movie from Grown Ups 2. Yeah, I said it, the scene was right in that alley. Plus, the samurai fight scene with Peter Dinklage has a point but the pay-off is ridiculous that is somewhat relatable to Michelle's character of who she is but it is very uninteresting.

The only standout is McCarthy and some of her line deliveries play on but her character is a tired, uninteresting loathsome tripe that I do not want see ever again. It's a one-joke film that is surrounded by her who wants to have redemption by forming a brownie business which is a nice set-up but does not take off. Kristen Bell is wasted as a character who is struggling with single motherhood who does not have that much backstory to her character. Peter Dinklage is not funny in this movie. And, the girl was all right even when she has a bit of rapport with McCarthy.

Ben Falcone, McCarthy's husband, is the director of this movie and should not direct again because his last attempt was Tammy. It was a bore and so was this one because there are very few hilarious jokes thanks to McCarthy but there are a few long stretches of the movie that felt like a home video. It seems that also McCarthy's and Falcone's screenplay does not work because there's not much of a story going on and there's not much of comedic value to gain interest to the comedy and to the characters. This is a lazy comedy that relies mostly on vulgar dialogue and unfunny jokes.

*1/2