Boss Of It All (2006/Genius/IFC)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Feature: D
Lars Von
Trier is back and he is more annoying than ever with yet another
deconstructionist, one joke mess that gives intellectualism a bad name. Boss
Of It All (2006) proves once again that he is the anti-Frank Tashlin,
trying to deconstruct comedy, film, business and even capitalism with the dumb
story of a hard on his luck actor who is hired to play the head of a company
that does not exist to impress others.
The
result is yet another pretentious mess showing ultimately the arrogance of
Trier’s perceived greatness, how “witty” he thinks he is and ultimately how
creatively bankrupt he is. Once again,
the result is a soulless, lame, tired hack work with plenty of traces of the
biggest cinematic fraud since The Blair
Witch Project, Dogme ’95. If
anything, it is a guide on how not to make a comedy. If you want a dark comedy where nothing is
funny, try Scorsese’s King Of Comedy
instead.
The
letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image is a slight improvement over Trier’s usual shoots,
but not by much, meaning the image is clear on a starter’s level versus the
motion blur and shaky camera work of his past disasters. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Danish Mono is flat,
but passable. The combination is still
annoying. Extras include two bring
featurettes and two pretentious mockumentaries.
Those who do not go into a coma after the feature might even make it to
watching them.
- Nicholas Sheffo
