Like a Boss

Comedy is hard, making something funny is perhaps the hardest thing in film, absolute gems like Knives Out and Jojo Rabbit show what you can do if you take it seriously and use humour to tell a proper story.

But even films that seem fluffy can get it really right, last years Instant Family and Fighting with my Family had so much heart to them they were wonderful.

But they are rare and let’s be clear, Like a Boss gets nowhere near them. I didn’t hate it but it is so predictable and formulaic, it’s a comedy you’ve seen 100 times before, a comedy about lifelong friends, something comes between them, friendship tested and well I’m sure you can figure out the rest.

The film isn’t without laughs and in Rose Byrne and Tiffany Haddish you have two excellent comedic actors who have both made much better things than this, but bring a nice central chemistry to proceedings, while they never manage to elevate it, I can’t think of a pairing who could’ve made it better, but certainly a few that would’ve made it much worse.

I am a huge fan of Rose Byrne and think she is an often ignored but hugely talented actor in both comedic and dramatic roles.

In the end Like a Boss is an inoffensive, occasionally funny, often bland comedy, Byrne and Haddish are an enjoyable watch and if you want a handful of laughs for 90 minutes on a wet afternoon this’ll probably do and then be quickly forgotten.