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The Boss of It All

Play trailer Poster for The Boss of It All 2006 1h 38m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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74% Tomatometer 66 Reviews 70% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
For years, company director Ravn (Peter Gantzler) leads his staff to believe that the head of the firm is an absentee director named Svend. Now Ravn wants to sell out to Finnur (Fridrik Thór Fridriksson), but Finnur will deal only with Svend. Ravn hires Kristoffer (Jens Albinus), an actor, to portray Svend so the deal can go through, but complications arise when Kristoffer must extend the performance.
The Boss of It All

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Director Lars von Trier ditches the pretensions but keeps his misanthropy in The Boss of it All, a surprisingly sharp and witty comedy about office life gone haywire.

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Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker 04/18/2022
Calculatedly self-promoting in his self-effacing trickery, von Trier again makes a work of an audacity—this time, not as tragedy but as farce—that belongs more to advertising than to cinema. Go to Full Review
Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard 02/29/2008
2/5
A bit of a shambles, but perhaps in its lack of von Trier's usual pretensions will lie the charm of this film for some. Go to Full Review
Anthony Quinn Independent (UK) 02/29/2008
2/5
Von Trier has evidently been watching The Office, and replicates both its soulless setting and fly-on-the-desk camera-style, not to mention the Brentian fear of being unpopular. Go to Full Review
Mattie Lucas The Dispatch (Lexington, NC) 06/06/2019
3.5/4
A fresh, nimble-footed departure from one of the world's greatest living directors. Go to Full Review
Michael Joshua Rowin Stop Smiling 08/24/2017
If The Boss of It All is forgettable, it's not for its airiness, but for its failed artiness, and for von Trier's failure to be true to his art. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 08/27/2009
B
An appealing low-budget quirky spoof on corporations. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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g j Jul 5 Every bit as knee-slappingly hilarious as you'd expect a Lars Von Trier comedy to be. See more Mason M Dec 31 A hilarious film that succeeds at its intention, being a fun comedy. But doesn't succeed quite as much as a film, especially not a Lars von Trier film. This film was great, the writing is amazing and the performances were wonderful. But the strange visual style and lack in heart keep this from being a truly great movie. See more dave s 09/21/2021 It seems odd, based on his oeuvre of controversial films, to watch a comedy directed by Lars vonTrier but, strangely enough, The Boss of It All works. The owner of an IT company fabricates a president of the organization in order to shift blame when he has to make difficult decisions. As a result, when it comes time to sell the company, he hires an actor to portray the fictitious president in order to avoid the wrath of the employees. The concept is clearly absurd, but the humor, dry as a bone, works throughout the film as the actor uncovers a long thread of deceit and dishonesty. The movie is hindered by some truly bizarre editing choices and some less than traditional framing of shots, but von Trier clearly has an ear for comedy and even takes a poke at himself with a reference to his Dogme 95 school of filmmaking. See more 11/11/2018 Smart. A different, more intelligent approach to an office comedy. Complex in the way it builds upon and unravels its own premise. See more 09/30/2015 Uma comédia pautada no absurdo, mas que ancora suas situações em neuroses realistas nos colegas de uma empresa. No entanto, tais neuroses nunca seriam expostas por pessoas reais, e a beleza de "O Grande Chefe" é justamente deixar fluir o comportamento humano até suas últimas consequências, enquanto ironicamente o comportamento de um ator medíocre é analisado sob a ótica da incompetência. - cinetenisverde.com.br See more 04/12/2015 A funny office comedy with strange characters with weird personalities. Maybe a common office history if you analize the situation See more Read all reviews
The Boss of It All

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Movie Info

Synopsis For years, company director Ravn (Peter Gantzler) leads his staff to believe that the head of the firm is an absentee director named Svend. Now Ravn wants to sell out to Finnur (Fridrik Thór Fridriksson), but Finnur will deal only with Svend. Ravn hires Kristoffer (Jens Albinus), an actor, to portray Svend so the deal can go through, but complications arise when Kristoffer must extend the performance.
Director
Lars von Trier
Producer
Vibeke Windeløv, Meta Louise Foldager, Signe Leick Jensen
Screenwriter
Lars von Trier
Production Co
Lucky Red, Memfis Film & Television [se], Zentropa Entertainment
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
Danish
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
May 23, 2007
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 19, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$51.3K
Runtime
1h 38m