‘The Boss’
Rating: R for “sexual content, language and brief drug use.” Running time: 99 minutes.
The search continues for a suitable showcase for the awesome talents of Melissa McCarthy outside of films directed by Paul Feig.
The latest vehicle to give it a try, “The Boss,” has a promising enough blueprint for comedy. McCarthy plays the red-haired, thoroughly turtlenecked Michelle Darnell, a ruthless, self-made executive whose Martha Stewart-like descent lands her in white-collar prison. Penniless upon release, she moves in with her former and much mistreated assistant Claire (Kristen Bell) and her daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson).
But, as in McCarthy’s slipshod road movies “Identity Thief” and “Tammy,” the material here isn’t on her level, the laughs are largely cheap and once again, the hall-of-fame comic actress is stuck in a minor-league movie.
Like “Tammy,” ”The Boss” was directed by Ben Falcone, McCarthy’s husband and longtime collaborator, and written by them both. (Steve Mallory, who also dates back to their improv days at the Upright Citizens Brigade, also pitches in on the screenplay).