Casting Re-Call: Horrible Bosses 2

Some films just don't need sequels, and, in my opinion, Horrible Bosses is one of those films. With one boss dead, one incarcerated, and one sufficiently black-mailed, what does one expect from a sequel revolving around the exact same characters?

 

Unfortunately, the crew behind Horrible Bosses 2 could care less, because people (including me) will be sure to watch the film, regardless of its necessity. I mean, Horrible Bosses was the funniest film of 2011, but that doesn't automatically result in Horrible Bosses 2 having a similar fate.

So, in the interest of creating more interest in Horrible Bosses 2, I have decided to re-cast the sequel, filling in the character-types with new actors. If the actors/characters were new, I might understand more of a need for a sequel. It would be so much fun to see new characters attempting to kill their bosses. Don't get me wrong... I love the Horrible Bosses characters. They just need to be left alone!

Characters that should remain:

Character: Dean "MF" Jones

Actor Chosen: Jamie Foxx

Why?: Foxx's "MF" Jones was absolutely brilliant in the first film, and he could appear in absolutely anything, remaining hilarious. In fact, he is the glue that holds the entire concept together, which is why he could easily transfer that concept over to new boss-murderers.

Character: Atmanand

Actor Chosen: Brian George

Why?: Brian George's voice role, as the GPS navigation assistant (basically, he was an OnStar employee), was sort of dorky and awkward in Horrible Bosses. However, he would be another easy connection to the new boss-murderers, potentially discovering the similarity in the situations. I know this character is not of the utmost importance, but I think he could be fun!

Re-Call:

 

Character: Nick Hendricks

Actor in 1st Film: Jason Bateman

New Actor: Aubrey Plaza

Why?: Plaza has the same (but very different) dry humor of Jason Bateman, and, above all else, I could easily see her killing somebody's boss. Bateman's character is the unannounced leader in Horrible Bosses, and I could easily see Plaza filling that role. Plus, it would be fun to see how a woman might deal with this situation, considering that men are no longer kings of the workplace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Character: Dale Arbus

Actor in 1st Film: Charlie Day

New Actor: Jay Baruchel

Why?: No one could play this role better than Charlie Day. No one! But, if we are looking at a different friend-group, we have to replace him, and I think Baruchel brings a very similar type of humor to the character as Day. In fact, I think his interaction with Aubrey Plaza would be even funnier than the interaction between Bateman and Day. They could even be potential love interests... or not...

 

 

 

 

 

Character: Kurt Buckman

Actor in 1st Film: Jason Sudeikis

New Actor: Ty Burrell

Why?: I had trouble with this character, mostly because Jason Sudeikis is so very bland and lifeless in every single thing that he does. So, how do you replicate (and even improve on) that blandness? Well, I went with Ty Burrell! Although he may be a good bit older than Baruchel and Plaza, I could see him being a goofy, awkward, protective figure who is entirely uncomfortable with the entire process of killing someone. This choice isn't necessarily a good substitution for Sudeikis or a good match with Baruchel and Plaza, but I just think he fits really well in this situation.

 

 

 

 

Character: Dave Harken

Actor in 1st Film: Kevin Spacey

New Actor: John C. McGinley

Why?: Because it would be fun to watch McGinley and Plaza bicker back and forth. He could also come on to her, in one way or another, substituting the sexually deviant Jennifer Aniston in the first film. 

 

 

 
 
Character: Dr. Julia Harris

Actor in 1st Film: Jennifer Aniston

New Actor: Michael Cera

Why?: Although the hilarity of Michael Cera as a bad guy may have been used in This Is the End, I think he could pull it off one more time. Put Jay Baruchel as a co-founder of some sort of app start-up or something Silicon Valley-ish, but, out of some legal mistakes, Cera owns 51% of the company, while Baruchel only owns 49%. Cera throws that in his face all of the time, which creates the grounds for his desire to kill him. I think it could work!

Character: Bobby Pellitt

Actor in 1st Film: Colin Farrell

New Actor: Woody Harrelson, Robert Downey Jr., Russell Brand, Sharlto Copley

Why?: Although Charlie Day is the funniest part of Horrible Bosses, Colin Farrell's Bobby Pellitt is undoubtedly the most genius character in the entire film. However, as I began to think of actors who could play a similar character, so many great choices came to mind, and I couldn't decide on just one. You can imagine, on your own, just how hilarious Harrelson, Downey, Brand, or Copley would be in this role. Let me know, in the comments, which you think would work best!

 

 

So, there you have it! My very own Horrible Bosses 2.

 

Let me know what you think about my choices, in the comment section, below.

 

Hopefully the actual Horrible Bosses 2 will exceed my expectations, and, maybe, it will not fall into the afterthought category, with its release date so close to that of Mockingjay Part 1.

 

Saving Mr. Banks

Expectations:
Of all the December-released movies that I wanted to see, I probably wanted to see Saving Mr. Banks the least. Not to say that I expected bad things, but I have no special connection to Mary Poppins nor was I blown away by the magic-filled trailers for a film that looked as if it would shove Disney down your throat until you could no longer bare it. However, I knew that Emma Thompson's performance would be impressive, and I was intrigued to see how well Tom Hanks handled Walt Disney (even though I don't really a preconceived notion of what Walt Disney should act like). Also, I usually enjoy dramatic, non-cartoon, non-action Disney films, such as The Odd Life of Timothy Green, The Rookie, and Remember the Titans, so I figured I might enjoy Saving Mr. Banks...

Plot:
Although I knew the story would eventually end in the making of a Mary Poppins film, I must say that the path to the making of the film was quite intriguing. I don't know how true the story was, but I didn't really care. I just wanted to be entertained, and that I was. Thankfully, the amount of Disney-shoving-down-the-throat was minimal. Sure, there was a lot about Disney, but I wasn't overwhelmed by the praise that landed on the shoulders of Walt Disney and his love of all things him. With the good, there was some bad, however, and that bad came in the form of flashbacks to the childhood of Emma Thompson's P.L. Travers. Each and every time that the movie cut to Travers' childhood I just couldn't help but cringe. Not only did I not care, but I also hated the fact that the interesting story was being continually interrupted by an uninteresting story. If they had a spent a moment at the beginning of the film explaining her childhood, I would have been content. If they had spent a moment late in the film allowing her to tell the story of her childhood, I would have been content. But, instead, they interrupted the movie every ten minutes and revealed what was the slowest unfolding of a flashback that I have ever witnessed. Everyone may not have the same opinion as me, but I just couldn't stand that part, and it was a huge portion of the film.

Characters:
Saving Mr. Banks was certainly well-cast, and the performances were quite impressive. However, they weren't quite as impressive as I expected them to be. In fact, I wouldn't expect a film of this kind to be getting so much Oscar praise, but what do I know... Sure, Emma Thompson was good, but I don't think she was amazing. Luckily, however, there were a few actors who shone bright...

Negatives:
Ruth Wilson's Margaret Goff was one of the most shallow characters that I have ever been meant to feel sorry for. Although Collin Ferrell's character was supposed to cause her grief, I really didn't care about her whatsoever. Additionally shallow was Aunt Ellie, played by Rachel Griffiths. Her character was quite important, in the grand scheme of things, but she was only on screen for like 5 minutes, which was quite disappointing. If they were going to flash back and forth 300 times, they could have at least included her a bit more. I can't really explain who all these people are without ruining a large part of the story, so just take my word on these two.

Positives:
As I said before, I don't have a preconceived idea of the true Walt Disney, but I will say that I was quite impressed with Tom Hanks's performance. The way that he was able to make me care for Disney and avoid shoving Disney down everyone's throat was quite impressive. Without his performance, I think the film would have failed... big time. The only other character that I loved was Paul Giamatti's limo-driving Ralph, who really helped bring out the best in Emma Thompson's performance. Giamatti is one of my favorites, and I love it when he finds a role, such as this one, that is so well suited for him.

Conclusion:
Going in, I thought Saving Mr. Banks would be a bit of a one-woman show, but, as it turned out, the men really carried the film. Tom Hanks was absolutely great, and, if you take his performance from Captain Phillips and ad it to this one, he might make my list of best actors in 2013. You will just have to wait and see! Saving Mr. Banks was a nice family film that any Mary Poppins fan would thoroughly enjoy. If I was a Mary Poppins fan, there is no telling how much I would have enjoyed it. However, as far as being an Oscar contender goes, I don't understand what all the fuss is about. Usually, I can at least see what the Academy likes about a movie, but that is not the case with Saving Mr. Banks, which suffers a bit from that sappy Disney feel. Unlike Remember the Titans (one of the greatest sports films of all time), Saving Mr. Banks is not one of the greatest sports films of all time... In case you couldn't figure that one out on your own! But, oh well! I give Saving Mr. Banks 2.83 out of 5 stars.

Horrible Bosses

Expectations:
With the disappointment that was Bad Teacher having come and gone, I longed for a new movie that would simply just make me laugh. Jason Bateman is absolutely not funny in my opinion, so his being in the lead role certainly turned me off. Nobody in the cast of Horrible Bosses really excited me, but the trailers for the film cracked me up, particularly Colin Farrell talking about "Professor Xavier." Also, the entire plot seemed a bit unreal and worried me that I may be once again disappointed by another R rated comedy. People don't just decide to leisurely kill their bosses. Finally, it was between Horrible Bosses and Zookeeper this weekend, which made the choice rather simple. I didn't expect Horrible Bosses to be great, but I just wanted to laugh.

Plot:
As I said the plot seemed unreal to me after watching the trailers, but I think the writers did a pretty good job of carrying out the idea. You could easily tell that these three guys had no freakin clue what they were getting themselves into, and that really helped the plot along. They even needed a "murder consultant" for goodness sakes, and the consultant is one of the greatest parts of the movie, which really surprised me. They really tied the main characters and the bosses together in an unexpected way that I won't ruin for you. The only large gap I found in the plot was Jennifer Anniston's role. It was necessary to have the third lead character and his boss, but her role never tied in with the role of the other two bosses. They basically had to pause the entire movie long enough to fit a scene with her in. It was completely random and useless, especially considering how great her character could have been. I laughed very often at the situations, and really thought the storyline excelled, considering my expectations. I was unable to even predict what was going to happen.

Characters:
As much as I didn't really love any of the three lead actors, I thought they did a fairly good job. I personally would have switched Jason Sudeikis and Jason Bateman's characters. Sudeikis played a sort of man whore, and I personally thought Bateman would have been better in that role, with his more dull attitude. Bateman is one of the least funny comedic actors in Hollywood. If you don't agree with me then he has got you fooled. Kevin Spacey was his normal jerkified self but was a great addition to the cast. Colin Farrell was amazingly hilarious, but he really had very little screen time. I certainly hope to see him playing more funny roles in the near future. As I said Jennifer Anniston was useless, and I didn't quite buy her being such a dirty girl. Surely they could have found someone better (and cheaper) to play the useless part. It was tough to choose the best character, and Jamie Foxx was certainly a close runner-up. His nickname alone cracked me up each and every time, but his role was also a bit too small like Farrell's.

Best Character: Dale, played by Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), was amazingly funny. Bateman may have been the actor that was used to sell this movie, but Day made this movie what it was. His voice alone was enough to keep me laughing. If only Jennifer Anniston had been a better boss.

Worst Character: Kenny Somerfield, played by P.J. Byrne (Dinner for Schmucks), was given very little screen time, which is a VERY good thing. He was one of the most pointless characters in the history of film. I do not at all understand why he even existed, but oh well.

Conclusion:
Very funny movie! I loved the storyline, greatly exceeding expectations. I also loved the characters, which I am still shocked by. Charlie Day made this movie, and I really hope he continues to become a bigger star. Ferrell and Foxx both broke out of their usual roles as more serious actors, and it worked out great. If you need a good laugh or just hate your boss, go watch this movie. Certainly not a family film, but I certainly would suggest it to anybody who longs for something as we wait for The Hangover Part II to come out on DVD. I give it 3.27 out of 5 stars, and still wish Jennifer Anniston was not in the movie.