Horrible Bosses at the Movies, From Gordon Gekko To Miranda Priestly
The new work comedy, Horrible Bosses hits theaters today and it's hard not be excited. With smart, funny guys like Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis starring opposite substantial straight guys like Kevin Spacey and Colin Farrell, as well as the always entertaining Jennifer Aniston and Jamie Foxx, this seems like a recipe for something worthwhile. In the movie, disgruntled employees plot to escape their awful managers by...murder.
A few weeks ago, I looked at the funniest work films, and before that, the worst TV boss in recent history, Michael Scott. This time, in honor of Horrible Bosses, I thought it would be fun to recall some previous abysmal big screen bosses.
Here, in no particular order, are my top 5. By all means, if you think I've missed one, please share it in the comments below.
Gordon Gekko in the original Wall Street
He's a classic narcissist in the first Wall Street, who clearly has no interest in mentoring -- or doing anything else that doesn't help himself. And who can forget his classic line, "Greed Is Good"?
Gordon Gekko in Wall Street Never Sleeps
In Wall Street 2.0, Gekko is a bit more humble after spending time in prison, but he's still incredibly self-serving.
Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada
Like Gekko, Priestly is a cruel narcissist, making cutting remarks that no employee ever wants to hear, like "Details of your incompetence do not interest me." And of course, the dismissive "That's all."
Professor Callahan in Legally Blonde
Professor Callahan is a law firm honcho who sexually harasses one of his law school interns, Elle (played by Reese Witherspoon). But Elle handles the situation with grace by ultimately stealing her boss's case and winning it. This scene shows her "sticking it to the man."
Buddy Ackerman in Swimming With Sharks
Horrible Bosses isn't Kevin Spacey's first turn at playing a really bad boss. Here he's as believable as ever as a power-hungry movie producer with zero people skills.
For the record, Office Space, with its miserable manager Bill Lumbergh, is still my all-time favorite office movie. Unfortunately, though, I couldn't find any good clips of Lumbergh on YouTube to include here. In the meantime, enjoy these other 5 bad bosses.
Do you plan to see Horrible Bosses? Who is your favorite big screen boss to hate?
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