Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne star in Paramount’s latest comedy, as Mia Carter and Mel Paige, co-owners of Mel & Mia’s, a cosmetics company who sell out to beauty mogul Claire Luna (Salma Hayek), and then discover they aren’t willing out to give up the control she demands. As Luna works to drive a spike between the two life-long friends, they battle to find their common ground and determine the best way forward.
In the brash, bold comedy, two women get to ad-lib their way through raunchy territory that has mostly been the territory of male actors. It is funny (and crude) as they way in on the men in their lives, and the business they’ve made their own for years. But the truth is that underneath all of that still beats the heart of the buddy comedy where invariably two friends are drawn apart, until finding themselves boomeranging back together against a common enemy. It’s predictable and a bit insane, but it’ll have the right earmarked notes to entertain a crowd looking for some laugh-outloud moments.
What’s also at stake here that’s less superficial: the idea that Claire sees beauty as what women hide about themselves and Mel & Mia see as highlighting the true beauty that women have innately. Jimmy O. Yang and Ryan Hansen play two competitor cosmetic stylists who represent the vibe that Claire is going for, and the Mel & Mia showdown with them is visually (and verbally) entertaining. That’s solid stuff — even when we realize that a man directed this, and men wrote it — providing a reminder that the film seems intent to unpack, that women are forced to play in a man’s world. Ironic, don’t you think?
In a shutdown world without much new entertainment coming your way, Like a Boss provides theater-level entertainment with some comic hitters like Byrne and Haddish. It’ll raise some questions, but I doubt it will answer them for you.
A few special features like “Get Some”, deleted scenes, and a look at their co-workers on the film are included on the Blu-ray.
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