The Boss
Melissa McCarthy is a business tycoon who gets taken down a peg in this hit-and-miss comedy
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Release date: 27 May 2016
Running time: 1hr 39min
Starring: Kristen Bell,Melissa McCarthy,Peter Dinklage
Directed by: Ben Falcone
Produced by: Adam McKay
McCarthy plays Michelle Darnell, the “47th wealthiest woman in the world” and a ruthless tycoon whom no one weeps for when she’s sent to prison for insider trading. McCarthy created the character 15 years ago when she was a member of the Los Angeles improv troupe the Groundlings. And the role fits her like a second skin. On release from jail after four months, the bankrupt bossypants — who covers her neck with collars and bows to the point of distraction — moves into the cramped Chicago apartment of her single-mom assistant, Claire (a wasted Kristen Bell), and her tween daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson). Michelle treats mom and daughter terribly. She hates the idea of family — “it’s an anchor that will make you sink.” She has her reasons. Flashbacks show the young Michelle as a reject constantly returned to a Catholic orphanage by a series of horrified foster parents. McCarthy doesn’t need soggy sentiment; she’s better than that.