By: Jonathan Crocker

As thumpingly blunt as its title, Horrible Bosses badly wants to coin in on The Hangover's hi-concept success. To be fair, the idea is a cracker: splicing Hitchcock's murder-swap thriller Strangers On A Train with a comic fight-back farce.

So we have three everyman wage-slaves deciding to off their horrible bosses. Ambitious office-jockey Jason Bateman is trapped under the foot of his sadistic manager Kevin Spacey. Soon-to-be-married dental assistant Charlie Day is desperate to avoid being drilled by nymphomaniac tooth-puller Jennifer Aniston. Accountant Jason Sudeikis is watching Colin Farrell rinse his father's company to fund his coke-and-hookers habit.

Having briskly built the killer premise, the script (by TV comedy writers Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein) then scampers around for the next 100 minutes looking for somewhere to go with it.

A bungled burglary, some spilled cocaine, a lost phone, peanut allergies, a car chase and, every so often, a cameo: Donald Sutherland escaped even quicker than he did in The Mechanic. Ioan Gruffudd's pop-up is what the movie needed more of. But Jamie Foxx sleepwalks through a very stupid role as 'murder consultant' Mother****** Jones.

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Yep, that's the level of wit we've got here. But here's the weird thing: Horrible Bosses is occasionally very funny indeed. There are flakes of comedy gold amid the slush and the talented lead trio make their best grab at them. Not unlike the Hangover wolfpack, they're terrific small-screen comedians looking for a big breakout: Bateman is the dry-humoured straight guy, Sudeikis is the sarcastic ladies-man and nutty, nervey Day is the real standout.

Every time they do ding the funny bone loudly, you're left wondering why the rest of the film is a swing and a miss. Big problem? A comedy about killing people has to be very dark or very silly - Horrible Bosses disappears down the gap in the middle. Too timid to push its characters into deadlier territory, it still pulls the trigger on one sudden shock of nasty violence that seems to have come from a different film. A better film.

There's not much that director Seth Gordon's (rom-com Four Christmases, ace documentary King Of Kong) can do to stop things becoming increasingly ridiculous and tedious. Inevitably, it's the three bosses who keep bailing the movie out. Spacey reheats his Swimming With Sharks leer with extra ham and cheese. Farrell is ridiculously charismatic, even with a bald-cap combover and pot-belly. Aniston has a blast giving Rachel-from-Friends a very filthy mouth.

But if you've seen the trailer, you've seen this already. Horrible Bosses doesn't have much else to give.

Verdict: Great cast, great idea and a few great moments. If only it had a script. Missed opportunity.

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