Two friends with very different personalities start their own beauty company, Mel & Mia’s, despite not agreeing on how they should run it. One is more practical, while the other wants to earn her fortune quickly and live a lavish lifestyle. Things take a turn for the worse when their company runs into debt, forcing them to turn to an unscrupulous benefactor who intends to steal the business out from under them. The two must address their differences to save their business.

It’s hard to come across a comedy that is genuinely funny. I mean make you keel over in pain kind of funny and that’s exactly where Like A Boss takes you as an audience member. With like Like A Boss, what you get is funny, funny and funnier and director Miguel Arteta and stars Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne and Selma Hayek have a whole lot of fun as they push some extreme comedy to the edge. From vivid childbirth cakes to weed smoking babies and the pains of ghost pepper cooking, Like A Boss has it all when it comes to totally outlandish and laugh-out-loud moments and it revels in the laughs that it throws at its audience. You won’t be able to stop yourself from keeling over with these outlandish hysterics. It’s been some time since I’ve laughed this hard with a comedy film and Like A Boss goes down an absolute treat.

Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne go for it in Like A Boss as best friends and small business entrepreneurs Mia and Mel who finally have the chance to step up to the big leagues in the beauty world in Like A Boss. Both actresses get to riff off of another here and they display perfect chemistry and create a whole lot of laughs with this one. They set each other up for some great comedy here, but their talent as performers really helps to build out the central themes of loyalty and friendship in Like A Boss and they prove that sometimes its better to appreciate what you have then to strive towards stars that dazzle just a little too bright. Haddish and Byrne have terrific handling of the comedy on offer in Like A Boss and they absolutely make this film a joy to watch.

Facing off against our two besties is Selma Hayek as make-up diva Claire Luna and she’s one absolute uber bitch. Best described as a pint-sized barbie doll come to life, with a personality to match, Hayek’s Luna is an ultra-competitive backstabber who is willing to go to whatever lengths she needs to in order to win regardless of the cost. Hayek revels in how far she can push it here as the chief villain and she gets to cut loose and have some fun thanks to her dis-dastardly plan to rip off Mia and Mel. Like A Boss is a great film for Hayek to mix things up and she gets to do something very fun here and her villainous performance heightens the enjoyment of Like A Boss.

Providing a key level of support is Jennifer Coolidge as over-the-top make-up assistant Sydney and the delightful Billy Porter as smooth operating cosmetic wizard Bennet. And both performers sprinkle plenty of magic around. Coolidge once again offers up her unique comedic timing here and her pithy one-liners will give you all the giggles. But if there’s a scene-stealer then it is absolutely Porter, who is in command of every scene that he’s in and offers up plenty of outrageous moments that will leave you hollering. Both actors are used to perfection by director Arteta and their inclusion in Like A Boss makes this film all the more hilarious.

Like A Boss is just a perfectly fun and riotous comedy film and it goes down perfect for a night out with you and all your besties. You’ll be laughing your heads off, and when the credits begin to roll you’ll be certain your friendship is all the stronger for it.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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When Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) decide to start a family, they stumble into the world of adoption. When they meet the trio of siblings, including a rebellious 15-year-old girl (Isabela Moner), they find themselves unexpectedly speeding from zero to three kids overnight. Now, Pete and Ellie must hilariously try to learn the ropes of instant parenthood in the hopes of becoming a family.

Directed by Sean Anders, a director with a gift for the comedic who has helped shape Wahlberg from an action superstar into a comedic god with works such as Daddy’s Home and Daddy’s Home 2, we get a piece of cinema that will really make your heart shine. In Instant Family, not only does Anders again capture the presence of Wahlberg perfectly, but he also lucks out with Rose Byrne, herself a gifted comedic actress and right off the bat these two performers have a wicked sense of timing and chemistry. As affluent yuppie couple, Pete and Ellie Wagner they seem to have everything…except that is for a loving family. Suddenly smitten with the idea they decide to pursue the adoption route….and that’s when the laughs really kick in.

As an audience member, you really buy into Wahlberg and Byrne’s chemistry up on screen and the trials and tribulations that await them as they set out to become parents. Both Pete and Ellie have a steep learning curve when it comes to parenthood, and this is especially true when it comes to rebellious 15-year-old Lizzie (Isabela Moner), who has no desire to be a part of their family and at every opportunity seeks to find new ways to test them. But ultimately they win…even if it does take them a while. Wahlberg’s recent comedic work in films such as Daddy’s Home and Daddy’s Home 2 really give him an edge here with his dialled in comedic timing, and Byrne’s attempt to become a den mother has plenty of funny moments to it. It might be hard work, but eventually, they realise that family is truly worth everything, even if it’s an uphill battle.

As a director, Anders has a flair for the comedic and it really expresses itself here. His direction is spot on and the film’s script has a lot of comedic gold. One of the recurring gags that he sends our way is in the form of Pete and Ellie’s adoptive son Juan (Gustavo Quiroz), who continually finds himself falling into trouble. The funniest of these involves a nail gun and his clumsiness, and without giving anything away you can probably guess what comes next. But while the film’s hilarity will have you in fits of laughter Anders uses it to push the narrative forward and showcase the journey that Pete, Ellie, Lizzie, Juan and Lita have to take in order to become a family.

While I went into Instant Family expecting nothing but a slick comedy, what I actually got was a thoroughly moving and heartfelt film concerning the idea of family and just what it means to us. Instant Family is an incredibly genuine film and Anders and his cast and crew really instil in the film a sense of the idea of family and just what it means to be one in this modern age. The film’s adoption plot will leave your heart melting and it makes the point that it doesn’t matter what you look like or who you’re related to, but that family ultimately comes from a sense of the love that we give to each other and the unbreakable bond that forms from it.

Packed out with laughs and love, Instant Family is a wonderful little gem of a movie that will have you giggling one minute and on the verge of tears at the other. Start your New Year right and see it as soon as you can because this one will really move your heart.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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If laughter is what you want then you’ve come to the right place, with Bad Neighbours 2 throwing out all the rules when it comes to physical comedy. It’s fast, kinetic, and unstoppable, and there are no limits as to how far stars Seth Rogen, Zac Efron (reprising his role as former sorority head Teddy) and Chloe Grace Moretz will go. The infamous ‘air bags’ are also back for one seriously painful stunt that will leave audiences in fits of laughter.

While Rogen is his usual funny self, it is the younger cast who really steal the show here. Efron makes the biggest transformation of all the characters from the first film, with Teddy having now become lost and disillusioned with life as a result of his all party philosophy. While he is looking to get back at the girls of Kappa Nu, he’s really trying to find a family and a place for himself in this world, and his search for personal growth yields hilarious results.

Matching Teddy is Moretz’s Shelby, a former lonely teenager who is determined to break the rules and have as much fun as she wants during her college years. While Shelby is determined to break all the stereotypes of what it means to be an American college girl, as well as destroying the rampant sexism that she sees within the Greek system, she has a genuine level of care for her ‘sisters’, and even this rubs off on Kelly and Mac.

While Bad Neighbours 2 has plenty of gross-out humour, and will have audiences in hysterics from beginning to end, it’s primarily the themes of acceptance and family that really make it work. I encourage you to give this one a go…you’ll be thoroughly amused.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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