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Melissa McCarthy is funny as hell — a tremendous physical comedian who on screen combines the warmth of a relatable buddy with devastating skill of the perfectly delivered putdown. And once again, I’m left wondering: Why can’t she pick better vehicles? The Boss, directed by her husband, Ben Falcone, is a shaggy mess that can’t pick a thematic lane (redemption story, parody) or a plot. (Neither would matter if the film were consistently funny, which it isn’t.) McCarthy plays Michelle Darnell, a successful businesswoman and a horrible human being, who after losing everything, moves in with her former assistant (Kristen Bell) and starts a Girl Scout-like organization to get her groove back. There are a few laughs, but watching McCarthy and some equally talented co-stars (Kathy Bates, Peter Dinklage), you really, really want this to be better. One unlikely bright spot: I liked her character’s high-end-executive muu-muu-like threads that were somehow powerful and cartoonish at the same time.
This article appears in Apr 13-19, 2016.
