Danielle Solzman
Like A Boss pits friend against friend when an industry giant expresses an interest in buying an interest in their start-up cosmetics company.
Money changes everything. It’s a good rule to know and you probably should never forget this. Mel Paige (Rose Byrne) and Mia Carter (Tiffany Haddish) are best friends. They’re also the inseparable type. The duo are living together years after they first met. Whether it is healthy or not is another question. In any event, they’ve turned their garage start-up into a cosmetics company worth having an eye on.
Things change for Mel and Mia as soon as Claire Luna (Salma Hayek) enters the picture. It’s no secret that their company is in the hole. Could Claire be the answer to all their problems or will she only happen to cause more problems? Mel and Mia’s friendship is put to the test at the very moment that money enters the picture. But will their friendship be enough to survive the tension being placed between them?
I’ll be surprised if Pose‘s Billy Porter doesn’t have one of the top-ten laughs of 2020 by the end of the year. Seriously. I don’t know if the scene will be one of the funniest of the 2020s. What I do know is that Billy Porter has solid comic timing as an actor. January comedies don’t typically have a lot to offer but his scenework makes it worth it. To say the least, what we see from the Pose star led to a laugh riot during the screening. If this were not a January film, I would say go ahead and nominate Billy Porter for Best Supporting Actor. I’m not saying that its at the same caliber of Bridesmaids or Girls Trip but there are definitely some funny moments in here. At least that’s how it came off in a Chicago theater on a cold winter night.
A solid supporting cast rounds out the film. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that some characters feel like comedy tropes. Anyway, you can never have enough of the likes of Jessica St. Clair and Ari Graynor. Insert the obligatory note about missing Playing House here. Honestly, Ari Graynor should be leading films by now.
Like A Boss is a January comedy so the good news is there is not much to think about. Haddish and Byrne have the necessary chemistry required for the BFF comedy. The film doesn’t really fall along the typical beats for a buddy comedy. Instead, the beats are similar to that of a romantic comedy. The only difference is that Mel and Mia have known each other since they were teenagers. You could certainly say that the film is predictable. Regardless, the duo are having fun when they’re on screen. Of course, this is when they aren’t being put to the test and want to kill each other. I already told you earlier that money can change a friendship! Hell, the film runs short at just under ninety minutes in length.
At most, Like A Boss may be the comedy movie that we need to distract us from what’s happening right now.
DIRECTOR: Miguel Arteta
SCREENWRITERS: Sam Pitman & Adam Cole-Kelly
CAST: Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne, Billy Porter, Jennifer Coolidge, Ari Graynor, Natasha Rothwell, Jessica St. Clair, Karan Soni, and Salma Hayek
