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 Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Plex, Plex Channel
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 MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
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 Comedy, Drama
- Available on MUBI
Cléo from 5 to 7
(Cléo de cinq à sept)
A young singer awaiting life-changing medical results embarks on a journey of self-discovery.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 1962
- Director Agnès Varda
- Cast Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray, Dorothée Blanck, Michel Legrand, José Luis de Vilallonga
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Kanopy
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
Silent Witness
A team of forensic pathology experts from a range of disciplines work together to investigate crimes in England.
- United Kingdom • 1996
- Creator Nigel McCrery
- Cast Emilia Fox, David Caves, Alastair Michael
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, BritBox, BritBox Amazon Channel, Hoopla, fuboTV, Britbox Apple TV Channel
24 Hour Party People
In 1976, Tony Wilson sets up Factory Records and brings Manchester's music to the world.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2002
- Director Michael Winterbottom
- Cast Steve Coogan, Paddy Considine, Sean Harris, Lennie James, Shirley Henderson, Andy Serkis
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Music
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, ScreenPix Apple TV Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Kanopy
The Wild Blue Yonder
Human astronauts attempt to find an alternate planet for humanity while an alien narrates the story of his dying planet.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, France, Austria • 2005
- Director Werner Herzog
- Cast Brad Dourif, Donald Williams, Ellen Baker, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Shannon Lucid, Michael McCulley
- Genre Documentary, Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Fandor, Fandor Amazon Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Shout! Factory TV, Freevee, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
The Element of Crime
(Forbrydelsens Element)
A detective resorts to the controversial techniques of his disgraced former mentor in order to catch a serial killer.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark • 1984
- Director Lars von Trier
- Cast Michael Elphick, Esmond Knight, Me Me Lai, Jerold Wells, Ahmed El Shenawi, Janos Hersko
- Genre Crime, Drama, Science Fiction
- Available on MUBI, MUBI 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 MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
The Five Obstructions
(De fem benspænd)
About a filmmaker not only revisiting, but also recreating one of his first films, 1967's The Perfect Human five different ways.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium • 2003
- Director Jørgen Leth
- Cast Claus Nissen, Lars von Trier, Majken Algren Nielsen, Jacqueline Arenal, Daniel Hernandez Rodriguez
- Genre Documentary
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Kanopy, Hoopla
Darkness, Light, Darkness
(Tma, Světlo, Tma)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Czechoslovakia • 1989
- Director Jan Švankmajer
- Cast
- Genre Animation, Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
We Have a Pope
(Habemus Papam)
We all have our doubts.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France • 2011
- Director Nanni Moretti
- Cast Michel Piccoli, Nanni Moretti, Margherita Buy, Jerzy Stuhr, Renato Scarpa, Franco Graziosi
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
Naked Harbour
(Vuosaari)
Everybody wants to be touched
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Finland • 2012
- Director Aku Louhimies
- Cast Alma Pöysti, Aino Louhimies, Sean Pertwee, Deogracias Masomi, Laura Birn, Konsta Mäkelä
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Of Horses and Men
(Hross í oss)
A clever, original tale of one of the world's most coveted relationships: man and horse.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iceland, Germany, Norway • 2013
- Director Benedikt Erlingsson
- Cast Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Charlotte Bøving, Steinn Ármann Magnússon, Kristbjörg Kjeld, Helgi Björnsson, Kjartan Ragnarsson
- Genre Drama, Romance, Comedy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Sparrows
(Þrestir)
In this observant coming-of-age film, a teenage boy moves to a struggling small town.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iceland, Denmark, Croatia • 2015
- Director Rúnar Rúnarsson
- Cast Atli Óskar Fjalarsson, Ingvar E. Sigurðsson, Kristbjörg Kjeld, Rakel Björk Björnsdóttir, Pálmi Gestsson, Rade Šerbedžija
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.