Melissa McCarthy is currently promoting The Boss. The movie opens this weekend. I’ve attached the restricted trailer below. Did you see Spy last summer? I hope so. Spy is a great comedy. It gets funnier every time you watch it. And the reason it works so well is on the strength of Melissa’s chemistry with all of her female co-stars. Melissa and Rose Byrne, obviously. But the bond between Melissa’s character “Susan” and her best friend “Nancy”, played by Miranda Hart, is also really, really funny, as are the interactions between Melissa and her boss, “Elaine”, played by Allison Janney.
Since we’re hyped up on the release of Duana’s book, The Name Therapist, today, here’s a movie that knows its names. Allison Janney is “Elaine Crocker”. What did I tell you in today’s open about the permanent unsexiness of my name? OF COURSE her last name is Crocker. The combination is about as uncharismatic and humourless and unattractive and as you can get. As for “Susan” and “Nancy”…well… these are not the names of millennials – and these two are, quite obviously, not millennials. In the story, however, you do believe that Susan and Nancy have skills overlooked and underappreciated because people are too busy paying attention to the “hunky-named” Bradley Fines (Jude Law) and Rick Fords (Jason Statham) of the world.
Anyway, the key to The Boss then, to me, beyond the big jokes and the bawdy comedy, will be whether or not Melissa can strike that kind of magic with Kristen Bell and Ella Anderson. And if so, it’s a strong lead-in for Ghostbusters this summer. If Melissa McCarthy brings it both times, by the end of the year, can we please shut down the bank on Adam Sandler?
Last night Melissa was on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The Colours Of The Wind bit was great, but I’m going back to re-watch her moves on X Gon’ Give It To Ya. Doesn’t matter that she barely knows the words. That ass-slap looks real good.
