Best friends Mia and Mel run their own cosmetics company -- a business they built from the ground up. But they're also in over their heads financially, and the prospect of a buyout offer from an industry titan proves too tempting to pass up. The beauty business is now about to get ugly as the proposal puts Mia and Mel's lifelong friendship to the ultimate test.
Like A Boss is a female-centric comedy film that mocks all of its straight male characters, is exposition-heavy, incredibly predictable, has cartoonish antagonists (villains would be a better word), and a rather bawdy, indecent sense of humour. And yet I still enjoyed it. There are so many flaws in the way that Like A Boss was created, that your experience with this film will hinge entirely on whether or not you appreciate the style of comedy.
The film stars Rose Byrne and Tiffany Haddish as our main protagonist duo Mel & Mia (respectively), with Billy Porter and Jennifer Coolidge in supporting roles. With a number of other recognisable faces involved, such as Salma Hayek, Karan Soni (Dopinder from Deadpool), and Seth Rollins (the WWE wrestler), there is enough acting talent for a really strong performance. Unfortunately, the script from Sam Pitman and Adam Cole-Kelly is half-baked at best. Byrne and Haddish do a reasonable job giving the impression of being good friends, but the remainder of the performances have the overexaggerated energy of a Broadway show.
The antagonists are so one-dimensional that a five-year-old could come up with more nuanced character traits. Outside of Billy Porter (whose performance is just the right amount of sassy and flamboyant), the characters are caricatures that lack any real development. This is evident in how exposition-heavy the film is, with characters having to verbally say what they are doing, how they are feeling, and why they are acting a certain way. This level of exposition sharing is not only a poor choice from a cinematic standpoint, but it is one of the main reasons why the film is so predictable. Everything has been spoonfed to the audience. The basic level of the screenplay can be shown by the lack of tension and stakes in the film. This is usually done by proposing a conflict or problem to solve, and stakes will build as the film progresses and the need for a solution becomes more necessary. In this case, though, every conflict is almost immediately solved. Each solution releases the tension that was built up, and the more often problems are solved immediately, the less the audience cares about future problems because there is no longer a challenge, no sense of danger.
And yet I still enjoyed it. Even when you consider the blue nature of the comedy, it is not often that I will find myself laughing at jokes centred around burning poop, yeast infections, women's hygiene regimens, two dogs having sex, or inserting objects into orifices, but there is an added dimension that really helps it work better. There is a dash of self-deprecating humour, which is not so gender-specific, and it is just enough to work some chuckles out of your system if you are in a theatre of like-minded individuals. As a male, I went in with little expectation of being blown out of the water with the comedy, and yet it made me laugh on several occasions. Enough to make me look past the poor script and unrealistic acting performances.
The delivery of the humour is organic and well-executed, however, diminishing returns do become an issue, and as the film progresses, this low-brow comedic style mixed with physical humour starts to garner fewer and fewer laughs, further exacerbated by the films switch to a more "plot-heavy" direction in the second and third act. The physical humour is bottom of the barrel content but luckily is not used too often. The film has a short runtime of 83 minutes, and at times the film feels rushed. This comes back to the lack of character development and the exposition-heavy dialogue which allows events to run through at full speed. This does keep the film moving along at a pace that prevents it from getting too mundane and boring, but it also means there is less time for transitions and does a very poor job at showing time progression. The entire story feels like it takes place over a week, and it isn't until characters specifically mention a timeframe that you realise that several weeks have passed since the previous scene (funnily enough, they manage to use a time card prior to the epilogue).
There are some nice messages and themes as well that are integrated into the film, that talk about accepting your flaws and shining through your uniqueness, as well as looking at the importance of maintaining healthy friendships and support networks, and the vital need for honest communication for a healthy relationship.
This is no Oscar-bait. This is a simple comedy that throws some low-brow humour together with debatable execution. It was great to see some diversity and women in powerful business roles (without needing to make a thing about it), but the film was let down by a lacklustre script. If the details of why homecoming sex leads to yeast infections sound like a laugh, Like A Boss will be right up your alley. This will no doubt have a limited audience as far as males go, but there is just enough to make the viewing a positive experience.
Like A Boss is in cinemas from January 23rd, 2020