Like A Boss had the potential to be a huge comedy hit because of its star-studded cast and emphasis on female empowerment, but it failed to do so. Starring Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne as best friends and Salma Hayek as the antagonist, the film heavily relies on innuendos and slapstick comedy in an attempt to be funny. The duo star as Mia (Haddish) and Mel (Byrne), who run an unprofitable cosmetics line. Salma Hayek plays Claire Luna, a cosmetics mogul that wants to obtain a controlling share of their business.

Haddish and Byrne are accomplished comedic actresses whose talents seem to have been wasted on Like A Boss. Throughout the film, Mia is more practical and rational while Mel makes impulsive decisions for the sake of the business. Their comedic efforts were relatively poor with jokes coming out dry. One such attempt was when the duo were cooking at a friend’s house and Mel purposely sabotages Mia by slipping a ghost pepper into her food without anyone knowing because they were fighting. While this scene was funny, it just proved how impulsive and vengeful Mel was.

With the plot featuring female bosses with their own company, the film could have emphasised female empowerment more. Hollywood does not have a lot of films featuring a mostly-female cast, so this was another wasted opportunity to convey a message about females in the workplace. Furthermore, there were no romantic storylines, so more effort could have been dedicated to showcasing Mel and Mia as female bosses. Even Claire, the villain, was not given any character development. The ending was cliche and just what the audience expected, although there was closure.

However, one thing the film did well was convey an important message about friendship. Running a business together had been the pair’s dream since they were in middle school, so witnessing their journey to becoming bosses was inspiring. Their friendship was tested on many occasions, and at one point they ‘split up’ because they had different ideas about where their business was going. Nevertheless, they realised that they could use the power of friendship and their own backstory to inspire others with their products.

Like A Boss attempts to combine humour with sentiment while following a cliche plot and storyline. While the sentiment is clearly there, the humour seems to fall short, even with industry comedic guns like Haddish and Byrne at the helm.