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Poster (c) Dimension Films
Even though My Boss’s Daughter was almost unanimously panned by critics, I don’t think I could keep away from a David Zucker movie, one-third of the team that brought the genius of Airplane! and the very funny Naked Gun. Plus, it was written by the writer of Anger Management, David Dorfman, so it looked somewhat promising. It had trademarks of both: what was great about both Airplane! and The Naked Gun is that there were things happening in the background almost so subliminal you’re not sure if you’re the only person seeing it, and in Dorfman’s Anger Management, there were penis jokes galore, and in Daughter, there are as many as there were in the former.
Unfortunately for Zucker, Daughter is neither as funny as his two classics or has as much of a plot (which is really scary, because those two didn’t even have one). Tom (Ashton Kutcher, who is about as good of an actor as my left toenail), who is a little shy/passive, has a crush on his boss’s daughter (hence the stupid title) Lisa (Tara Reid, see my comment about Kutcher). After a series of misunderstandings (the name of the movie should be Awkward, Broad, and Extremely Slapstick Generic Comedy #172), he ends up housesitting for his boss Jack Taylor (Terence Stamp), and wacky things happen including a drug-dealing brother (Andy Richter in an underwritten role), an odd, recently fired secretary (Molly Shannon, who works well), a killer (Michael Madsen), and an overweight, former lover of Lisa (Kenan Thompson).
Although a lot of the humor was old and dated (Jack’s owl is named O.J., and everyone screams because Tom says “O.J.’s loose!”, a man offers Tom a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear), some of it was funny, in the broadest sense possible. They weren’t going for subtlety here. In fact, most of the jokes were completely obvious. When Tom is checking a woman for breast cancer (is it just me, or did she just pop in there?), did anyone not expect Lisa to come in and think something else? Also, some of the comedy is mean-spirited towards gay, handicapped, and injured people, and most of that I didn’t find that funny. Iif you’ve paid to see Daughter, you’ve basically seen Meet the Parents 2, with all of its madcap humor and situations, all with various mass destruction.
One of my greatest fears is that Ashton Kutcher will do what Adam Sandler did: entered the movie business doing slapstick comedies, and then after his name is really well known, do a “serious” movie and get accolades for it. The day Kutcher is heralded for his acting is the day that I eat my shoe. Not only did he seem to be overacting during the obligatory “emotional” parts, but during most of the movie, he made it seem like Keanu Reeves had more than one emotion. Reid does what she needs to do with her one-dimensional character of the boss’s daughter (which the movie isn’t really about). Why a lot of stars decided to have small, supporting roles, I don’t know, but most of them clicked in their part. Now if they had taken over the movie instead of Kutcher being in charge, then maybe Daughter would have worked.
Considering that My Boss’s Daughter came in at #10 on the box office on opening weekend, I’d have to say that most of the country is right in avoiding this. However, if you’re bored during a matinee time, this wouldn’t be a horrendous choice.
Rated PG-13 for crude and sex-related humor, drug content and language.
Review Date: August 27, 2003