Franklinmovie

Her first screenplay coincided with the first directing experience for her acting colleague in “Tammy” (2014) and this time the couple seem to reach a good equilibrium. The director and the writers made a nice work, even if there are almost no extremely funny moments and at the same time almost no originality in the story, which is just another V.I.P. who doesn’t know she feels lonely, helped by a lonely parent with a kid being the (non) unpredictable variable. In the end, though, some good action scenes try to heighten the sense of enjoyment, though they risk to mine the whole mood that the movie tried to build in its whole. 
Sure in the last few years there seem to be a great trend in having kids dealing with vulgarities, even if this is not the worst case, but there is something quite gross in trying to turn situations into comedy just because there is some kid who is not supposed to listen to some words or expressions. Even so, the importance of the wrestling-like scene between middle-school girls is actually lessened than what it seemed from the trailer, so that the ethical doubts about it can be quickly set aside.
Of course the most affected by this criticality is Ella Anderson, the 11-year-old American girl who plays Rachel, and though she seems to not be too undermined by it, she’s doesn’t give the most impressing of performances. Maybe she’ll do better in a few years, but she has few facial expressions that she convincingly gives, so at times she’s not that convincing. At the same time, I never liked Kristen Bell that much, and here she’s not even at her best: anyway, she fits her character, so she reaches an abundant sufficient mark. I wan’t even judge Peter Dinklage, whose role remains a bit caricatural, undermining his undoubtable acting style. The true star performer really is Melissa McCarthy. Apart from acting on a screenplay she helped writing, which is a ultimate advantage, she almost holds the movie up in a solitary race, with a few breaks just to start again with reborn energy and purpose. And she saves the movie from mediocrity.
A bit of fun is never under appreciated in a movie, I feel, and where the comedy has something to say beyond its gags then, at least, everyone can get something from it. “The Boss” is exactly that: not the best comedy, not the most meaningful story, but a nice get-together of two aspects that can make a movie at least look good.