Disgruntled employees hatch murder plot in horrible bosses

CEBU, Philippines - “Almost everyone has had a horrible boss at some point in their lives, someone who made life miserable,” says Seth Gordon, director of New Line Cinema’s upcoming comedy “Horrible Bosses.” “We all know how tempting it is to fantasize about how much better things would be if they were out of the way. This is a story about three guys who decide to do something about it.

“But,” he adds, “it doesn’t turn out exactly the way they expect.”

In the film, management candidate Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman) has been logging 12-hour days and eating everything his twisted supervisor Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey) dishes out, toward the promise of a well-earned promotion. But now he knows that’s never going to happen. Meanwhile, dental assistant Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) has been struggling to maintain his self-respect against the relentless X-rated advances of Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S. (Jennifer Aniston), when she suddenly turns up the heat. And accountant Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) has just learned that his company’s corrupt new owner, Bobby Pellit (Colin Farrell), is not only bent on ruining his career but plans to funnel toxic waste into an unsuspecting population.   What can you do when your boss is a psycho, a man-eater or a total tool?  

Quitting is not an option. These monsters must be stopped. So, on the strength of a few-too-many drinks and some dubious advice from a hustling ex-con whose street cred is priced on a sliding scale (Jamie Foxx), the guys devise a convoluted but foolproof plan to rid the world of their respective employers… permanently.

If bumping off their tormentors seems a little extreme at first, it soon becomes clear that, for one reason or another, these three browbeaten and manipulated workers are out of reasonable options. And it’s not as if they started out as homicidal malcontents —actually, quite the opposite. Gordon sees the story’s heroes, played by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis, as “just average suburban working Joes. They’re not bad guys, really; they’re doing their best, but they’re trapped and victimized by the people they work for in ways that are truly heinous and profound until they just can’t take it anymore.”

If the average moviegoer can’t relate to a murder plot, however ill-conceived, the filmmakers feel it’s a safe bet they can at least relate to the escalating frustration that finally pushes these three working stiffs over the edge. Producer Brett Ratner, who developed “Horrible Bosses” with producing partner Jay Stern, notes, “The title alone says it all. It got an immediate reaction from everyone who heard it. People don’t want to admit that the person they work for now is a horrible boss, but they’ll refer to former bosses, or tell us about their ‘friend’ who has one. Everyone has bad experiences to draw on, and that’s why this is so much fun.”

The bottom line, Gordon states, “is there’s really no message here. It’s just a fun, rude, escapist comedy about three guys who decide to kill their bosses and are out of their depth as soon as they start.”

Now open across the Philippines, “Horrible Bosses” is a New Line Cinema distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.