Horrible Bosses 2

The guys are back, and they have found themselves to be the target of even more rich and powerful folks who want to take advantage of them. Dale (Charlie Day), Nick (Jason Bateman) and Kirk (Jason Sudeikis) have gone into business for themselves and invented The Shower Buddy – a product that dispenses soap and shampoo at the appropriate times while you are cleaning up.

The owners of a massive catalog company, father Bert Hanson (Christoph Waltz) and son Rex (Chris Pine), want to feature the item in their newest edition, and place an order for 100,000 units.

Dale, Kirk and Nick think they are on top of the world and all of their dreams are coming true, but Bert cancels the order after production, and before paying, which proves it was all a scam to begin with.

The company is destined to go bankrupt, and Bert is looking forward to buying everything at pennies on the dollar and owning the patents, so he can start making The Shower Buddy with his company. It is the most hostile of hostile takeovers (and a very weenie move on top of all that).

Instead of walking away as the losers and finding day jobs all over again, Dale, Kirk and Nick decide to take the only action they can conceive of. They are going to kidnap Rex, and hold him for ransom.

Let’s get one thing out of the way very quickly. There is no reason for Horrible Bosses 2 to be made other than the desire to make tons and tons of cash.

The story is preposterous and completely contrived.

Co-writer/director Sean Anders and co-writer John Morris go back to the well, so some of the big supporting stars from Horrible Bosses can make their return, even though it is a bit of a stretch, and it would have been more entertaining to see a few additional new faces.

And, I wish they came up with more for Waltz to do because he is awesome and should have been given more chances to be part of the humor.

However, Horrible Bosses 2 is hilarious, and being funny makes up for many many sins (unless your name is Bill Cosby).

Like in the first film, the audience is willing to forgive the three of their criminal ways because they come off as goodhearted and well intentioned, but completely incompetent and inappropriate. You don’t believe these nitwits have the evil in their hearts to pull off the crime, and that’s what makes it feel more innocent and funny than dangerous, wrong and illegal.

Sudeikis, Bateman and Day still have great chemistry together, which allows Horrible Bosses 2 to become a crazy, filthy screwball comedy. Most of the humor comes from this relationship, and these three actors know it. Rather than emphasizing plot, we get to watch them interacting, reacting and creating funny moments to carry Horrible Bosses 2.

The ending might be a bit too dark, and Anders and Morris gloss over the big legal jeopardy the guys face, but it’s all about the laughs, and you get more than enough to help you escape the craziness of the holidays.

Horrible Bosses 2 is rated R for strong crude sexual content and language throughout.