The Boss of It All
IFC Films | Release Date: May 23, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
The first of von Trier's efforts to be certifiably farcical. Read full review
90
Village VoiceScott Foundas
Colors and angles and sound levels don't match from one cut to the next. The movie is ugly as sin to look at. But it's all intentional on the part of von Trier. Read full review
88
PremiereGlenn Kenny
The result is a kind of very faux documentary style, which, along with the subject matter, has suggested to some the influence of the BBC television series "The Office." Von Trier says he's never seen an episode, and I believe him. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Bone-dry but completely assured, both in its visual strategy and its wry deconstruction of the workplace comedy genre. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Funny is not a word often used to describe von Trier's output, but "Boss" definitely is that, thanks to a breezy script and a bright cast. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
With echoes of "Dave," in which Kevin Kline takes over for the comatose U.S. President he resembles, Kristoffer begins to feel the power given to him and to make his own decisions, leading to some hilarious situations and an unpredictable ending. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The Boss of It All finds the common ground between business and acting -- panicky improvisation -- and wonders whether applause or an executive comp package is the greater reward. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
Von Trier's proficiency at the quicksilver business of comedy comes as a surprise, given the grinding seriousness of earlier films. Read full review
70
VarietyLeslie Felperin
For all its slightness, pic is helmer's least pretentious and most sheerly enjoyable for years. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Like all of Mr. von Trier's films, The Boss of It All is a cold, misanthropic work that places no faith in institutions and in humanity itself. But it's also very funny. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
No one is likely to rank "Boss" on the same level as his more somber and ambitious efforts, but Von Trier admirers will be pleased to discover that, even while working in a far less consequential mode than usual, the ever-uninhibited filmmaker's distinctive flair is in full force. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Screwball office comedy. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
This satire of empty-suit capitalism has scalding moments, but most of it suggests Being There meets The Office gibberized into theater of the absurd. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The Boss Of It All, though clever as a piece of genre deconstruction, isn't terribly funny. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
There's a comment in here somewhere about leadership and authorship, and it's not that we're laughing too hard to fully comprehend it. In von Trier's world, the laugh is often ON the audience, not WITH the audience. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Cynical, misanthropic and embittered. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It's a modest and mildly funny effort, with good scenes and touches of incisive satire, but it's not quite funny enough, and it's undermined by its camera technique. Read full review
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