For all its slightness, pic is helmer's least pretentious and most sheerly enjoyable for years.
The Boss of It All(Direktøren for det hele)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Denmark, Sweden, France · 2006
1h 35m
Director Lars von Trier
Starring Jens Albinus, Peter Gantzler, Benedikt Erlingsson, Henrik Prip
Genre Comedy, Experimental
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Ravn, the owner of a Danish tech firm, dodges all responsibility for his touchier business decisions by inventing an imaginary boss. But when Ravn needs to sell his company, he is forced to hire failed actor Kristoffer to impersonate the absentee manager, catapulting a series of absurd comic encounters.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The result is a kind of very faux documentary style, which, along with the subject matter, has suggested to some the influence of the BBC television series "The Office." Von Trier says he's never seen an episode, and I believe him.
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
With echoes of "Dave," in which Kevin Kline takes over for the comatose U.S. President he resembles, Kristoffer begins to feel the power given to him and to make his own decisions, leading to some hilarious situations and an unpredictable ending.
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
Cynical, misanthropic and embittered.
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
This satire of empty-suit capitalism has scalding moments, but most of it suggests Being There meets The Office gibberized into theater of the absurd.
The Boss Of It All, though clever as a piece of genre deconstruction, isn't terribly funny.
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Like all of Mr. von Trier's films, The Boss of It All is a cold, misanthropic work that places no faith in institutions and in humanity itself. But it's also very funny.
The Boss of It All finds the common ground between business and acting -- panicky improvisation -- and wonders whether applause or an executive comp package is the greater reward.
Funny is not a word often used to describe von Trier's output, but "Boss" definitely is that, thanks to a breezy script and a bright cast.
Users who liked this film also liked
Dancer in the Dark
A Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, uses her love of musicals to escape her life's troubles.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Germany, Netherlands • 2000
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Peter Stormare, Joel Grey, Cara Seymour
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy
Breaking the Waves
A woman's husband, paralyzed after a neck injury, asks her to have sex with other men and then tell him about her experiences.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Sweden, France • 1996
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr, Adrian Rawlins, Jonathan Hackett
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, , Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Alamo on Demand
The Idiots
(Idioterne)
A commune of adults seek to eschew the propriety of bourgeois society by pretending to be disabled in public.
- ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Spain, Sweden • 1998
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Bodil Jørgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing, Troels Lyby, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Louise Mieritz
- Genre Drama, Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Dogville
A quiet little town not far from here.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Netherlands, Denmark, United Kingdom • 2003
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Nicole Kidman, Harriet Andersson, Lauren Bacall, Jean-Marc Barr, Paul Bettany, Blair Brown
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
The Piano Teacher
(La Pianiste)
Perversion --- at its absolute best.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Austria, France, Germany • 2001
- Director Michael Haneke
- Cast Isabelle Huppert, Annie Girardot, Benoît Magimel, Susanne Lothar, Udo Samel, Anna Sigalevitch
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, , Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
Golden Door
(Nuovomondo)
A family from Sicily journeys to the United States in search of a better life.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France, Argentina • 2006
- Director Emanuele Crialese
- Cast Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vincenzo Amato, Aurora Quattrocchi, Francesco Casisa, Filippo Pucillo, Vincent Schiavelli
- Genre History, Drama, Romance
- Available on Amazon Video, , Hoopla
My Neighbor Totoro
(となりのトトロ)
Sisters and spirits come together in this magical tale.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1988
- Director Hayao Miyazaki
- Cast Noriko Hidaka, Hitoshi Takagi, Chika Sakamoto, Shigesato Itoi, Sumi Shimamoto, Tanie Kitabayashi
- Genre Animation, Family, Fantasy
- Available on Microsoft Store, Redbox, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, YouTube, Apple TV, , Max, Max Amazon Channel
Europa
World War II had finished, but it left indelible marks
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Sweden, France • 1991
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa, Udo Kier, Max von Sydow, Eddie Constantine, Jørgen Reenberg
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, , Max Amazon Channel, Max, Alamo on Demand
Antichrist
When nature turns evil, true terror awaits.
- ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Germany, France • 2009
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Storm Acheche Sahlstrøm
- Genre Drama, Horror, Thriller
- Available on Criterion Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, DIRECTV, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion
(新世紀エヴァンゲリオン劇場版 Air/まごころを、君に)
The second of two theatrically released continuations of the Neon Genesis Evangelion television series.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1997
- Director Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki
- Cast Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Kotono Mitsuishi, Yuko Miyamura, Fumihiko Tachiki, Miki Nagasawa
- Genre Action, Animation, Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Redbox
Big Deal on Madonna Street
(I soliti ignoti)
Inept criminals gather a team together to try and dig a tunnel into a pawnshop and rob a safe.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1958
- Director Mario Monicelli
- Cast Vittorio Gassman, Renato Salvatori, Memmo Carotenuto, Rossana Rory, Carla Gravina, Claudia Cardinale
- Genre Comedy, Crime
- Available on Freevee, Criterion Channel
White Collar Blues
(Fantozzi)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1975
- Director Luciano Salce
- Cast Paolo Villaggio, Anna Mazzamauro, Gigi Reder, Giuseppe Anatrelli, Umberto D'Orsi, Liù Bosisio
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Amazon Video
Ovosodo
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1997
- Director Paolo Virzì
- Cast Edoardo Gabbriellini, Claudia Pandolfi, Nicoletta Braschi, Malcolm Lunghi, Regina Orioli, Alessio Fantozzi
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Hoopla, Amazon Video
Melancholia
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Sweden, France • 2011
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Rampling, John Hurt, Alexander Skarsgård
- Genre Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Magnolia Selects, Microsoft Store, fuboTV, Redbox, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, Kanopy, YouTube, FlixFling, Apple TV, MUBI Amazon Channel, MUBI
Will Our Heroes Be Able to Find Their Friend Who Has Mysteriously Disappeared in Africa?
(Riusciranno i nostri eroi a ritrovare l'amico misteriosamente scomparso in Africa?)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1968
- Director Ettore Scola
- Cast Alberto Sordi, Bernard Blier, Nino Manfredi, Giuliana Lojodice, Franca Bettoia, Manuel Zarzo
- Genre Comedy, Adventure, Fantasy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Amour
Love never ends.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Austria, France, Germany • 2012
- Director Michael Haneke
- Cast Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, Isabelle Huppert, William Shimell, Ramón Agirre, Rita Blanco
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, YouTube, Apple TV, MUBI Amazon Channel
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II
The continuation of Joe's sexually dictated life delves into the darker aspects of her adulthood.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Germany, Belgium • 2013
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Shia LaBeouf, Willem Dafoe, Stacy Martin, Udo Kier
- Genre Drama, Mystery
- Available on Microsoft Store, FlixFling, Apple TV
Nymphomaniac: Vol. I
A self-diagnosed nymphomaniac recounts the erotic story of her adolescence and young adulthood.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Germany, Belgium • 2013
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Uma Thurman
- Genre Drama
- Available on Microsoft Store, Vudu, Pluto TV, FlixFling, Apple TV, MUBI Amazon Channel, MUBI
Dogman
A Man Groomed For Vengeance.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 2018
- Director Matteo Garrone
- Cast Marcello Fonte, Edoardo Pesce, Nunzia Schiano, Adamo Dionisi, Francesco Acquaroli, Alida Baldari Calabria
- Genre Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Hoopla, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, FlixFling, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Plex
Mandibles
(Mandibules)
Two simple-minded friends discover a giant fly in the trunk of a car and come up with a plan to earn money with it.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2020
- Director Quentin Dupieux
- Cast Grégoire Ludig, David Marsais, Adèle Exarchopoulos, India Hair, Bruno Lochet
- Genre Comedy, Fantasy
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Alamo on Demand, Kanopy